Critical Foundations
How can we be mindful of cultural appropriation when teaching with Asian art?
Introduction
The issue of cultural appropriation has been popping up in news stories involving party costumes, fashion brands, and the film and music industries. Cultural appropriation can be described this way: a cultural object or practice being used out of context by someone who is not from that cultural group. Sometimes, people and businesses make money from these misappropriated cultural objects/practices, while the people who have been creating and using these objects/practices for centuries have been ridiculed or shunned and have even faced persecution.
Buddha Heads
Let’s take as an example Buddha heads, which have been used as decoration in non-Buddhist homes. You might see Buddha heads for sale at home goods stores or placed in non-Buddhists’ gardens, bathrooms, or elsewhere. Some argue that using a Buddha’s head for decoration is disrespectful, just as it would be to use a depiction of any religious figure as mere decoration.
Buddhism is a religion that originated in the Himalayan region in 500 BCE. According to Pew Research Center, in 2010 Buddhism was practiced by 488 million people worldwide, with nearly 99 percent of them living in the Asia Pacific region. There are several different types of Buddhism practiced in Asia.
When discussing cultural appropriation and misappropriation, it’s important to understand the underlying issues and power dynamics at play. Power dynamics can exist in a single relationship, with one person wielding power or control over someone else through threat, command, or physical force. Power dynamics can also exist among groups of people, with one or more groups having power over other groups, sometimes over years or even hundreds of years.
Teaching and Learning Strategies
Learn about the original context of the misappropriated object/practice: How has it been used/practiced by the people who founded/created it?
Reflect on your own cultural identity by considering: Is this object from my own culture? Do I identify with this culture, object, or practice? In what ways? Why or why not?
- How does this reflection and understanding impact how you might engage with these objects/practices?
Reflect on the differences among cultural sharing, exchange, appreciation, inspiration, and misappropriation: What qualifies as cultural misappropriation? Come up with your own definitions. Questions to ask when you see an example of cultural misappropriation include:
- What power dynamics existed before this instance of cultural misappropriation took place? When does appreciation and celebration cross into appropriation?
Find examples of commonly misappropriated objects/practices from Mia’s collection (such as the Buddha heads)—or have students share their own examples.
- Ask students to take different sides of the argument and debate the ethics and power dynamics involved in the misappropriation of the objects/practices.