Ask - who should be making this project?

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While all art is a work of the imagination, there is no doubt that engaging with ‘the other’ presents particular pitfalls and responsibilities. Whenever you choose to do this, you should be clear on why you’re doing it, how you’ll avoid the pitfalls, and how you’ll fulfil the responsibilities.

If you are in the position of funding, publishing, nominating, reviewing or otherwise backing a project, it’s worth asking: is this the right artist to be making this project? Legitimate criticisms often arise when a project made by a white artist about people of colour, or one that uses their culture, is promoted with funding, marketing and awards, while projects by artists from the relevant community are ignored.

How do I do it?

Ask questions like:

  • Why am I drawn to this project?
  • Am I the right person to make it?
  • Is there a danger of creating or entrenching cultural stereotypes?
  • Am I appropriating cultural assets that belong to someone else?
  • How will I research this project? How will I check I got it right?
  • Is there a way to reimagine this project so that it doesn’t involve another culture?
  • Would this project work better as a collaboration with artists who are cultural insiders?

Top resources to Ask - who should be making this project?

Article

'Dance is not a museum': how ballet is reimagining problematic classics

A look at the ways major UK ballet companies are reimagining the classics like The Nutcracker to avoid the damaging stereotypes protrayed in scenes like the Chinese and Arabian variations. "Historical ballets are rife with offensive colonial politics but choreographers and dancers are finding creative ways to change them for today’s audiences"

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  • 10 minute
    read

  • Published: 2020
    Country: UK

  • Author: Lyndsey Winship, The Guardian

Audio

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.”’

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  • 4 minute
    listen

  • Published: 2016
    Country: NZ

  • Author: Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan, Radio NZ

Report

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.

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  • 60+ minute
    read

  • Published: 2016
    Country: Australia

  • Author: Terri Janke

Article

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

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  • 22 minute
    read

  • Published: 2016
    Country: UK

  • Author: The Guardian, Hari Kunzru, Aminatta Forna, Chris Cleave, AL Kennedy, Stella Duffy, Linda Grant, Naomi Alderman, Philip Hensher, Maggie Gee, Nikesh Shukla

Article

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.'

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  • 23 minute
    read

  • Published: 2020
    Country: Australia

  • Author: Sujatha Fernandes, Sydney Review of Books

Article

A Poor Imitation: “American Dirt” and Misrepresentations of Mexico

Review of the controversial book 'American Dirt', whose critics say exploits the suffering of Mexicans and resorts to stereotypes for the titillation of white readers.

'If English-speaking readers assume that this novel accurately depicts the realities of Mexico and migration, it will only further the cause of disinformation and prejudice.'

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  • 6 minute
    read

  • Published: 2019
    Country: USA

  • Author: David J. Schmidt, The Blue Nib Literary Magazine

Article

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?'

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  • 6 minute
    read

  • Published: 2016
    Country: Australia

  • Author: Jeanine Leane, Overland

Article

The problem with 'cripping up' and why casting disabled actors matters

Article examining 'cripping up': when able-bodied actors portray people with disability, such as Daniel Day-Lewis' role in 1990's 'My Left Foot'.

'what must it have been like to be one of those child actors on the set of My Left Foot? To not only watch a man act as though he too had cerebral palsy on screen, but to see him continue the charade once filming stopped.

How would they have felt, then, to later see him walking on stage to accept an award for how well he imitated them?'

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  • 8 minute
    read

  • Published: 2021
    Country: Australia

  • Author: Gae Lee, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Article

Why I’m Asking White Critics Not to Review My Show

Indigenous theatre-maker Yolanda Bonell of Tkarón:to (Toronto, Canada) discusses the white gaze in critical reviews.

'The lack of IBPOC voices in the media—at a time when arts’ coverage is shrinking—means white critics are often the gatekeepers of success....as reviewers, I think there’s a responsibility in acknowledging that you may not understand certain cultural aspects of how the storyteller is choosing to tell that story.'

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  • 6 minute
    read

  • Published: 2020
    Country: Canada

  • Author: Yolanda Bonnell, Vice

Article

An open letter to reviewers, critics and editors

'Hello, lovely to meet you. I’m Cessalee: a Black woman, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) consultant, director and performer, arts audience member, and advocate for a better industry – can we talk?'

'Comparing ... a play about a specific Asian community to another play ... from an entirely other Asian country tells me you’re not talking about the quality, talent or skill level ... you’re talking about the category you’ve created called ‘plays about Asian things I don’t understand'.'

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  • 15 minute
    read

  • Published: 2023
    Country: Australia

  • Author: Cessalee Stovall, ScreenHub

 
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