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Cultural appropriation

Stone Conversations : Archive 2 : Message 00037

From: shockme@xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 05:25:05 -0300
Subject: Cultural appropriation

I just submitted some carvings to the local Arts Council
here in NB for jurying, so I could sell them at the
shows.

I was told that a carving of a bear 'looks' Innuit, and
therefore is un-original and unacceptable.

What this tells me, is that I have no 'right' to carve
an animal, as I would be committing " cultural
appropriation !!!!!!!????????

Does this mean that white folks are not worthy of
looking at an animal in a spiritual sense, because
others have done so in the past?

Has anyone in this group ever heard such insulting
nonsense?

Furthermore, I use marble and Alabaster, and not
soapstone or bone, the preferred materials used by
Innuit carvers.

To make matters worse, none of the 4 'jurors' have ever
done any stone carving of their own. As as result of
this failed jurying session, I'm not allowed to sell
stone carvings at their shows. I'm already a juried
member for pottery.

Feel as if I've done a lot of work on these sculptures
only to be run over roughshod by this opinionated yet
totally inexperienced group of so-called peers. The
market is so small here that you are literally juried by
your competition, even if they have no experience in
your field. We all go to the same 'juried' shows to sell
our products. It's a nightmare with these people.

Some of my work is here:


Anyone else had experiences like this? Upsetting to say
the least. Any comments on this would be appreciated.

Best Regards,

Rod Marquart

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