What is considered cultural appreciation?

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We’ve already looked over different types and examples of cultural appropriation in the previous part. However, appreciation is still a mystery. How do we tell the two apart?

Appreciation, by definition, is the act of recognising or understanding that something is valuable and important. With this context, cultural appreciation is mutual understanding and benefit for both parties involved when implementing or portraying a culture. 

Cultural appreciation is best defined as cultural exchange, in which the two parties would have consent to participate in some culture, while also being able to understand and respect each other’s culture.

Before diving into examples, it is important to look over the three different types of cultural exchange:

Multiculturalism - A society that has many different cultural or ethnic groups.  People live alongside one another, but each cultural group does not necessarily interact with each other. For example, in a multicultural neighborhood, people may go to ethnicity-specific grocery stores and restaurants but may not really interact with their neighbors from those ethnic groups. They simply co-exist in one environment. 

Cross-culturalism is the comparison and contrast between two cultural groups. For example, cross-cultural communication includes highlighting different ways of communicating in the same language or contrasting body language between two cultural groups.

Interculturalism is having a deep understanding and respect for all cultures. Intercultural communication focuses on the mutual exchange of ideas and cultural norms and the development of deep relationships. In an intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from one another and grows together.

With that being said, what does cultural appreciation look like in practice?

When Angelina Jolie visited Pakistan in 2010, she wore a hijab or otherwise known as a headscarf for Muslim. Considering that the hijab is an important element in Pakistani culture, she wore it out of respect for her environment and to keep an element of modesty.

Another example is Brazilian sportswear label, Osklen, which took inspiration from the Asháninka, an indigenous tribe living in the Brazilian and Peruvian rainforests, for its spring 2016 collection. The brand then paid the tribe to ethically use aspects of their culture like tattoos and traditional fabrics in its collection. With the money, the Asháninka people were able to build a school and open a store to sell their artisanal products.

There is a more refined line between appropriation and appreciation. It is important to identify and define your intentions before involving or using a culture that you are not a part of. There is no harm in drawing inspiration, but remember to represent the culture in such a way that the original meaning is not taken out of the conversation, and give credit when it is due. 

Inclusivity and representation are two other important factors to take into consideration when portraying a culture. 

In a conversation with the Indonesian Ambassador to France in Paris, Dior’s creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, talked about Christian Dior’s inspiration behind the choice of including kain Endek, a traditional Balinese cloth, for its Spring/Summer 2021 collection. The reason was because Dior wanted to shine the spotlight on Indonesian craftsmanship, especially on female weavers.