Appropriation or appreciation – finding new ways to share

For the past couple of weeks the blog has been looking at the thorny issue of appropriation: when does using someone else’s culture become “theft” and when is it actually an acknowledgement of the value inherent in the objects of that culture? What is actually at stake when we make use of culture to create? In 2022 the New York Times printed this thought-provoking article on the subject.

Appropriation costs. It costs not only economically but socially, sometimes devaluing the culture that it is meant to be honouring. For the Oma of Northern Laos one such activity resulted in a technology-based solution that offers hope of working together while protecting their intellectual property.

During the research for these articles, an interesting trend is becoming clear. As people work to acknowledge the place of culture in creativity so some are willing to learn how to properly acknowledge the ownership of that culture.

A few weeks ago, the Australian label Wah-Wah was featured on the blog. One of the ways the company has found to work with artists on designs is through an approval process that results in the epithet “ally-friendly purchase” being applied to the results of these collaborations. A new addition to the collection is this jumper, created with Tiger Yaltangki. This, it seems to me, is a respectful and fruitful way to work together, with all parties benefitting.