Arts Studies and Criticism

In any society, the most enduring and resonant elements are those cultural artifacts and practices refined and transmitted across generations. These legacies are not only preserved but continuously reinterpreted, ritualized, and embedded within everyday life. This paper presents the author’s project integrating traditional Hani music into the interpretation of Roman Lar statues, which was selected as part of the “Ten Songs for a Lar” initiative co-sponsored by Arts Council England and the Kent-Medway Museum. Through the lenses of ritual music and musical contextualization, the study explores the mechanisms of cross-cultural musical transmission and fusion. It underscores the importance of identifying shared symbolic patterns among culturally diverse artistic expressions and of presenting ethnic musical traditions in formats amenable to global dialogue. Rather than promoting cultural assimilation or dominance, meaningful cultural exchange acknowledges the impossibility of a single universal narrative. It instead advocates for the articulation of culturally situated worldviews, affirming that understanding and coexistence emerge from recognizing the legitimacy of alternative ritual and belief systems. Such recognition enables individuals to encounter themselves through the lens of the other, thereby facilitating deeper forms of cross-cultural communication.