“This is for us. This is us expressing a full, culturally dynamic self.”

Those were part of the introductory remarks made by Zulfikar Bhutto, artist and co-curator of Where Do You Want Ghosts to Reside?, now on view at Southern Exposure through March 14. Bhutto voiced a sentiment shared by fellow curator Azin Seraj, the featured artists, and anyone who grew up outside the United States or Western Europe: cultural assimilation is mandatory. But what happens when that mandate is refused?