The importance of culture isn’t lost on Peter Mousaferiadis, the CEO of Cultural Infusions.  Cultural Infusions is an organisation that runs intercultural workshops and programs in schools and communities across Victorian and internationally.

He says culture is what defines us as human beings and is the medium by which we express ourselves.

‘Divided we fall, united we stand and diversified we grow’

Cultural infusion’s slogan is a testament to his belief in the potential for culture to enrich individuals and communities.

Peter came to this realization five years ago when a severe case of gout inspired some research into influential people who’ve also suffered from the disorder.

“I thought, all these people have had gout, Martin Luther King Jr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander the Great, Kublai Khan, I’m feeling really good about myself. I started to read up on Kublai Khan, the grandson of Ganges Khan who inherited his empire.”

Kublai Khan, unlike his predecessors, didn’t pillage and exploit where he reigned. Instead he focused on building schools and he allowed the arts, sciences and religious freedom to flourish.

“Why did he invest in the arts and festivals? Because they were a way of communities to assert their own identity.”

“He allowed these people to be able to express themselves, if people can express themselves they’re going to feel good, they’re going to feel a sense of belonging. [They have] this culture that they can belong to, it’s not going to be taken away from them.”

“They’re also going to feel a sense of allegiance to an empire or state which is accepting and recognizing of their cultural identity.”

This very philosophy underpins his work at Cultural Infusions. Despite the many hats he wears as a conductor, composer, producer, event organizer and CEO; Peter describes what he does as simply “bringing people from different backgrounds together.”

“In the end, we have the idea [to bring people together], and how we support the idea is with activities. A lot of people say peace means everything; they talk about these intangible concepts. What is peace exactly? We need to work at peace and the only way you can really cultivate peace is through grassroots initiatives. It happens at a grassroots level.”

It happens through what he calls inter-cultural and cross-cultural dialogue, which he maintains are different from multiculturalism.

“If I look at multiculturalism, it’s about how do different communities live side by side and it’s to do with how a lot of policies are created. [Its main concern is] how are we going to work with each of these communities as opposed to how do we get these communities to interact. How can they come together?”

“Human beings have always worked through a hybrid way of doing things. Hybridity is a natural way of life. We see it in a molecular level, we see it in a mechanical level, we see it the way humans have interacted but even the way societies have always interacted.”

“We’ve managed to achieve the greatest things when different perspectives come together. Knowledge is the diversification of ideas and the premise of intercultural dialogue is having respect for cultural diversity.”

Inter-cultural and cross-cultural dialogues are a two way process where learning and growth take place on both sides of two different cultures coming together.

There have been many historical examples of the benefits of different cultures coming together. Peter gives the example of the hindu-arabic numerical system, which is the basis upon which every numerical system in the world is based on.

“This was a gift that was given to us as the result of the convergence of the Arabs coming together with the Hindu civilization and philosophies coming together and exchanging ideas.

“If we take something like the bionic eye, who would have thought something like a bionic eye would have been possible 30-40 years ago and we’re not far from having a bionic eye. That’s come about as the result of many different disciplines form all over the world coming together.”

“This can only happen through an intercultural experience and exchange.”

Images used courtesy of Cultural Infusion.