"Difference is power."
Hello everyone,
This week we are furthering our examination of cultural appropriation, giving you a lesson on the qipao, emphasizing why “difference is power” and inviting you to an exhibition that showcases South Asian, nomadic jewelry.
By the way, today is “Giving Tuesday,” which we are celebrating on our social media. If you appreciate our work and want to help us continue on into the new year, consider setting up a sustaining, “monthly gift” (of any amount) over at our donation page. With enough donations, we are able to see new endeavours through in 2021, such as providing new employment opportunities. Just in the past month, we’ve received an overwhelming number of emails from researchers, writers, students and recent graduates of color hoping to work for FRD. I’d love to expand our team, but we will need substantial (and consistent) funding.
Objects That Matter: The Qipao
'Objects That Matter' gathers numerous fashion objects outside of the Western lens and provides a brief history, showing why they matter, as many of these items have been widely appropriated or referenced. This week we are sharing our latest entry: 'The Qipao.' This well-known and frequently appropriated garment was researched by guest contributor Faith Cooper, a fashion historian who specializes in the cultural relationship between the East and the West.
"For the past one hundred years, the qipao has been one of the most recognized garments associated with Chinese culture. In Mandarin Chinese, 'qipao' translates to the 'gowns of the banner people'.''
[The qipao] "was originally worn as an ankle-length, loose-fitting dress, but the styles changed frequently. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the dress became more form-fitting, highlighting the curves of the female body, and the length of the hem, side slits, and sleeves varied. Embroidered floral and leaf designs were among the most popular decorative motifs for qipaos."
Photo Credit: Qipao, Chinese, early twentieth century. Collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art.
We invite you to read Faith’s entry to learn more about the qipao’s widespread influence and appropriation amidst a globalized landscape.
From the Library: A Short Introduction to Cultural Appropriation
This week, FRD Researcher Laura Beltrán-Rubio examines a hot-button topic that we’ve also addressed since the summer: cultural appropriation. Laura has gathered a selection of sources from our library, offering her own unique perspective as a scholar:
The ongoing debate about cultural appropriation is more relevant now than ever. Not infrequently, the fashion system exploits the cultural elements of racialized groups of people under the pretense of an innocent “inspiration.” Yet this exploitation continues the legacy of long-term, systemic violence of colonialism. This selection offers an initiation into this complicated subject and some easy steps to break the violent cycle of cultural appropriation.
‘Native American Culture in Fashion’ by Jessica Metcalfe (Lecture)
‘Homage or Theft? Carolina Herrera Called Out by Mexican Minister’ by Vanessa Friedman (Open-Access Article)
‘Cultural Appropriation: Yours, mine, theirs or a new intercultural?’ by Deepsikha Chatterjee (Paywall Article)
‘Fashion’s Cultural-Appropriation Debate: Pointless’ by Minh-Ha T. Pham (Open-Access Article)
‘What the Kimono’s wide-reaching influence tells us about cultural appropriation’ by Allyssia Alleyne (Open-Access Article)
Dress from Carolina Herrera’s Resort 2020 collection with a striped pattern resembling those typically seen in sarapes from Saltillo, Mexico. Carolina Herrera, Vogue.com
The topic of cultural appropriation is addressed from various angles, and we are always looking to diversify our range of authors and sources. We invite your suggestions via our 'Contact Us' page!⠀
The Fashion and Race Database Conversation Series: ‘Retail as a Portal: Image-making as a Blueprint for Systemic Change’
This week we are offering you a highlight from the second instalment of last month’s Fashion and Race Database talk series, ‘Retail as a Portal.’ This series worked to explore how retail can empower us to produce and consume with positive, social impact and ignite systemic change. I hosted the event and was joined by figures in our fashion constellation who are leading through visionary thinking and doing.
Check out this exchange between my guests Yomi Abiola, founder of The Fem League, and Sir John, global makeup artist and advocate, as she explains how "difference is power," reminding us that "change is incremental and it requires stamina" in the face of opposition.
This clip was featured as part of a showcase of The Fashion and Race Database at Ryerson University’s RUBIX Exhibit 2020. Special thanks to our Media Editor Daniela Hernandez for pulling together our video clips, our Project Manager Rachel Kinnard for producing ‘Retail as a Portal,’ and to Holt Renfrew’s H Project for sponsoring the series.
On the Calendar: Adornment: Jewelry of South Asia’s Nomadic Cultures
Our exhibition spotlight, selected by Media Editor Daniela Hernandez, is Adornment: Jewelry of South Asia’s Nomadic Cultures at the The Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is currently on display until January 9, 2021.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, cattle-herding nomads from tribes as geographically and culturally diverse as the Ersari and Kuchi of Afghanistan, the Balti of Pakistan, and the Rabari and Ahir of India moved seasonally across Central and South Asia in search of fresh pastures. Although they carried few belongings, these travelers developed a material legacy of adornment practices embodied in the textiles and finely crafted jewelry they wore and bartered, practices that continued as they settled into modest villages over time.
Photo Credit: Bracelet (Tada) with Temple Tower (Shikara) Finial, early 20th century Odisha, India. Promised gift of Barbara and David Kipper. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
That’s it for this week. Stay safe and take good care.
Yours in service and solidarity,
Kim Jenkins
Founder, The Fashion and Race Database