I appreciate all joined the JACL Talk about “(Cultural) Appropriation vs Appreciation”. I believe it was a good summary of my messages regarding this topic. It was a good opportunity for me to re-examine my understanding of Cultural Appropriation (C/A). I am still a newbie in this topic with so much to learn, yet it was good that I could clarify where I stand.
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Keeping “3Ps” in our mind is a good approach to C/A. 3Ps offered by Emi-san (little_kotos_words) are Power, Profit, and People. Other 3Ps defined by Kayne Kawasaki in his Ted Talk are Property, Privilege and Profit. By having a solid definition for these “Ps”, we can have progressive conversation – both “3Ps” are similar, yet one word is identical – Profit. I assume I need to learn about this “Profit” more as it was the least significant concept for me. Frankly speaking, I don’t mind others making money by using the word “Sashiko” – as long as they are changing the culture itself intentionally. (Please find my article about my feelings when Nike Released “Sashiko Sneaker”).
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My goal is to preserve (or restructure) the Cultural Sustainability. In short, when we have a Sashiko Artisan who can make their living by just doing Sashiko (not including teaching, publishing, selling supplies and other related activities), the first step to preserve the Cultural Sustainability is made. We are not even there yet. The Sashiko artisans I know in Japan aren’t profited by the trend in English – as they do not “teach”. Come to think of it, my goal is to bring “profit” to the Japanese who are actually stitching today. It is a long way to go – but again, it is me who can make it happen at this point as other non-Japanese aren’t doing so.
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我ながら、あの英語嫌いだった私が、複雑な議題の中で話ができるようになったものだと笑ってしまいました。「文化の盗用」が議題でしたが、日本語訳も含め、まだまだ私等には不自然な議題なのだろうと思います。少しずつではありますが、日本語でも紹介できたら…と。
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英語圏で定義される課題については、まだ腑に落ちていない所もあるのですが、「利益受益者は誰か」という一点においては、「刺し子の技術を持った人が、刺し子だけで生活できるようになるといいのになぁ」という夢物語に直結するなと思っています。「生活できない」と諦めていましたが、できない現実の因果関係がこの議題にあるのかもしれない…と。自虐的になる前に見つめてみようと。今週の配信のテーマが決まったような気がします。
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#Sashiko #刺し子 #日本人の刺し子
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