Celebrating cultural diversity at Qulture Shock 2023
Samridhi Saini
Qulture Shock was a 2-day event organised by Queen’s International Students Society (QISS). The event opened with ‘Qulture Night’ held on Monday 13 March at Europa Hotel and finished with ‘Qulture Roadshow’ held on Wednesday 15 March at Elmwood Hall. The event was sponsored by several university faculties and groups, including the Global Student Recruitment Team, Queen’s Accommodation, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Language Centre.
Image courtesy of Samridhi Saini
The event's main attraction was ‘Qulture Night’, an evening celebrating various cultures worldwide through acting, singing and dance performances. Several Queen’s University student societies were part of the event such as the K-Pop society, the Filipino society, and the Pakistani society. Other amazing performances included Malaysian singing, Chinese dances, Mexican dances, Indonesian solos, an Indian group, and the South Asian Dance Academy. Followed by a gala dinner and a lucky draw, the event turned out to be a great success, with Dona Das Gupta, the performer and one of the audience members sharing her experience. Qulture Shock was amazing – the performances were varied, and you could tell that a lot of thought and hard work went into it. It was touching that through the script and performances, international students were at the heart of the event. However, a little more care could have been given to the seating, as it was somewhat disorganised.
‘Qulture Roadshow’ comprised of booths set up by student societies and individuals within Queen’s University Belfast to reflect several cultural and historical aspects of their home countries, including crafts, traditional games, and performances. Representatives from organisations like the British Red Cross reflected the event’s emphasis on issues such as gender equality.
The Scoop spoke to Matthew Ling, the vice president of Qulture Shock, who stated that around 350 attended ‘Qulture Night’ and between 200 and 300 people attended ‘Qulture Roadshow’. He mentioned that the hardest part of planning the event was finding a time that suited everyone, as it was important to ensure that Qulture Shock did not clash with holidays such as Ramadan and Easter. One cannot deny that the students worked hard to pull off a successful event. There were numerous students involved in coordinating logistics to directing creative teams. It is great that Queen’s University is successfully creating a multicultural platform for its international students where they can share and celebrate their cultures.
Samridhi Saini is an MA student in Arts Management at Queen’s University Belfast and a culture reporter at The Scoop.