Cultural Appropriation

Community-Engaged Practice with Jade Lillie and Lia Pa'apa'a

Discussion of the book 'The Relationship is the Practice' edited by Jade Lillie and Lia Pa'apa'a which explores community engagement, collaboration, intersectionality, cultural safety, racial literacy, access and inclusion. Also links to the book.

Cultural Appropriation: Another Form of Extractivism of Indigenous Communities

Indigenous communities around the world face attacks on multiple levels, including extractivism in their territories, and appropriation of their cultural creations and knowledge. This article highlights the requirements of respect for ancestral knowledge and Informed consent.
Photo: Ayuujk weaver, by Luis Balbuena Gómez.

Cultural Appropriation vs Appreciation

Andean Textile Arts is an organization dedicated to supporting the communities of the Andes to preserve and revitalize their textile traditions. The author of this article asks: where is the line between appreciating and appropriating? and draws on the instructive categorization of the three types of cultural borrower - the 'Invader, the Tourist, and the Guest' (originally coined by Diantha Day Sprouse).

First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

Protocols For Using First Nations Cultural And Intellectual Property In The Arts. A guide endorsing the rights of Indigenous people to their cultural heritage and in support of Indigenous creative practice and self-determination.

How did rock music get so white?

Professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and Slate music critic Jack Hamilton interviewed on how rock and roll changed from an inter-racial expression to the soundtrack of whiteness.

‘Pat Boone covering Little Richard is probably the most egregious example of this. “But he was able to get his music played on radio stations that wouldn't play the black originators of that music and he was someone who almost objectively made much worse versions of that than the originals.”’

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) fact sheet and comic

This fact sheet and comic is designed to provide education about copyright issues and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property rights in an accessible way. It is aimed at artists and audiences alike.

Indigenous Cultural Protocols and the Arts

Case studies in multiple art forms of how arts organisations have implemented the landmark Creative Australia Indigenous Protocols, developed in 2002 to ensure Indigenous culture is used ethically and legally with appropriate consultation and consent, according to both Australian copyright law and Indigenous cultural protocols.

Includes question prompts for developing project methodology to ensure respect and consent when making art that draws on another community's culture.

Intellectual Property and Folk, Arts and Cultural Festivals

A downloadable practical guide to the IP issues that can arise when commercial interests, the media and the general public wish to record and disseminate the cultural expressions and skills being exhibited which may include culturally sensitive materials.

Jeanine Leane: Other people’s stories

Wiradjuri author Jeanine Leane discusses cultural appropriation in literature, remarking that the appropriation of Indigenous voices in writing is “not empathy,” which emerges from knowing First Nations histories, people and stories,” but ”stealing someone else’s story, someone else’s voice”.

Mini IP Toolkit - Considerations Checklist

While not designed for arts projects, this checklist for commercial collaborations from Intellectual Property Australia attempts to ensure that major drivers and interests of all parties are understood and catered for in a collaboration contract. A hand one-page checklist to help make resources, IP and power structures explicit.

Other peoples’ stories

Wiradjuri writer, teacher and academic Jeanine Leane ponders questions of representation and who had the right to tell another person's story.

'if non-Indigenous people are still only encountering Indigenous people via the works of non-Indigenous writers/historians/filmmakers/artists, then are they really encountering us at all?'

Out of Context

Article series on cultural appropriation in the music industry offering perspectives for those "seeking to acknowledge historical context [and] honor cultural traditions that are not their own".

Includes discussion on the cultural ownership of dreadlocks, white composers seeking the 'novelty' of traditional sounds, issues with non-Western musicians having to 'play the ethnic card' and 'The Whitewashing of Prince'.

The Dominance of the White Male Critic

Review of the reviewers, and the dangers of a national art debate that remains 'largely segregated'. It begins with a look at the 2019 Whitney Biennial in the US.

'Several white reviewers faintly praised the show but argued that it wasn’t “radical” enough. In response, Simone Leigh, an artist featured in the Biennial, suggested that reviewers could not detect radicalism in her work because they were unfamiliar with the art, artists and themes she draws from, a criticism others echoed.'

The Exhibitionist

Art tours of UK galleries and museums that position works in the context of colonialism, imperialism and racism.

'we unravel the role colonialism played in shaping and funding a major national collection, looking at the broader material history of celebrated works: where the money comes from, the ways they’ve been displayed, and the ideological aesthetics at work. The history of British art is also the history of empire and genocide, written by collectors who traded in landscapes and lives.'

The far-right and other speculative fictions for Europe

A filmed talk and timelapsed graphic illustration of two events on political imagination leading up to the 2019 European Parliamentary Elections. One focused on the ‘identitarian’ narratives of the far-right in Europe, the other centred on a speculative fiction workshop on European futures.

The Great White Social Justice Novel

Review of reviews of US work American Dirt and Australian novelist Anna Krien's Act of Grace.

'The white standpoint of the writer, her appropriation of the stories and voices of non-white characters, have mostly gone unacknowledged in this literary reception.'

‘There are no more excuses’: six industry insiders on Australian TV's problem with race

Creatives of colour discuss issues in the Australian screen industry.

Benjamin Law: 'On The Family Law, the team demonstrated that when gatekeepers make the excuse, “Oh, there aren’t enough actors of a certain background” – that’s bullshit. You just haven’t made the effort to find them. Yes, it’s harder than just calling up the same Caucasian faces that you already know. Taking the time is the only way you’re going to do it.'

Watch now: Using First Nations Protocols for Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

Lucy Byrne with Patricia Adjei, Dr Paula Abood, Travis De Vries and Jake Smithers as they discuss the First Nations Protocols. Together they highlight the importance of everyone understanding these Protocols to ensure care of First Nations Intellectual Property through appropriate permissions, acknowledgement and consent. This discussion illustrates how everyone can be an ally in holding these Protocols up to accomplish safe consultation and consent when using First Nation stories & knowledge.

Whose life is it anyway? Novelists have their say on cultural appropriation

Hari Kunzru, Kamila Shamsie, Aminatta Forna and others on writing outside their experience.

Ask 'Did I find it easier to write about this because I filtered it through a white gaze and thus made it palatable for a largely white publishing industry? And most of all, and this bears repeating, don’t get defensive. Because you may be making a larger conversation about marginalised communities, and their ability to tell their own stories in their own voices, all about yourself.' ~ Nikesh Shukla

Why Malaysians Need a New Term to Define Cultural Appropriation and Appreciation

Analysis of cultural appropriation in Malaysia, even after centuries of intercultural exchange in Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous communities.

Five creative project scenarios are presented that raise questions of appropriation, and potential alternative ways of moving forward more ethically.

'Cultural power acknowledges that imbalances exist. It’s not just about sharing, but recognising that dominant cultures dictate what’s acceptable while minority cultures face erasure or stereotypes.'

Winnie Dunn on bringing marginalised voices to the centre

Writer, editor and manager of Sweatshop Western Sydney Literacy Movement Winnie Dunn spoke at the launch of Diversity Arts Australia's Voice, Agency & Integrity report.

'The problem is that the Australian Arts sector is dominated by a cultural perspective where excellence is synonymous with Whiteness. It is a deep systemic issue of racism. I mean, that’s how Chris Lilley got to make multiple TV shows in Blackface and Brownface.'

Writing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Characters in Fiction

This article discusses the problem of cultural awareness in Australian publishing when it comes to writing First Nations characters. It presents a series of prompts and further reading for non-Indigenous writers who want to include First Nations characters in their work and who want to avoid stereotyping and insensitive portrayal.