In the QuiltCon Lecture, I received an important question. [What is the line (boundary) between appropriation & appreciation (respect)?]. My answer was “acknowledgement (of the Stories behind)” as always. At the same time, after the lecture, I realized I could add one more word. If you follow this account for a while, you know what I am going to write – it is the importance of protecting the “upstream”.
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I share pretty much everything on the Internet both the technical perspective of Sashiko & the cultural Story of Sashiko. I don’t hide/modify any of my stitching as I believe it is somewhat a public domain. I ask for the fee for workshops & Online Class when one needs my personal attention (and it can help to accelerate the learning) – but it isn’t necessary as the materials to learn Sashiko are already there for free of charge.
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However, “Free” doesn’t mean “Non-Important” or “Non-significant”. One may learn Sashiko by watching my videos online and teaching themselves. It is perfectly fine to enjoy “self-taught” Sashiko, but even the “self-taught” has the materials to learn from – here, the photo/videos on Youtube. I never ask for compensation for saying that one learned Sashiko from me. Again, I share everything deliberately, and I even say “Copy it”. So, if you are about to learn Sashiko, please identify where you get that information – please acknowledge the “upstream” even when they say “self-taught”. If one ignores the upstream, and then pretends that they “invented” it, then it will lead their activity to Cultural Appropriation (as it may cause the Profit over sacrificing the upstream). So, to follow-up the great question, I would ask to acknowledge the story AND the “upstream” of where the story comes from. Thank you for learning Sashiko from us.
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「刺し子を教える機会」を重ねるにつれ、いかに「その当たり前がどこからきたのか」を考え、また可能な限り明確にしていくことの大切さを身にしみて感じています。現代は「独学」が当たり前です。AIが発達によって、AIがまとめた情報を基準に勉強して専門家になる人も出てくるでしょう。ただ、その「どこからきたか」を蔑ろにし続けると、いつか第一次の知識（つまりは智慧）を紡ぎ出せる人がいなくなってしまいます。その場合はAIが集めた過去の情報を再編集するしかなくなってしまいます。それはなんか寂しいのですよ。もう終わってしまった文化であれば仕方ないかもしれないですが、刺し子のようにまだ生きている文化なのであれば尚更。AIに私が思う本質的な刺し子は多分できません。でも、AIが刺し子を教える日はくるでしょう。その流れの中に「人間」があって欲しいなと思うのです。
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#Sashiko #刺し子
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