Cultural appropriation: What it means and why it matters
17 minutes to read
Joanna Wane on navigating the social minefield of cultural ownership . The theme of the Queenstown party was Inappropriate , and the woman who contacted costume hire company First Scene had already come up with a few ideas of her own.
Maybe, she suggested, her husband could go as the Christchurch mosque shooter and she could be a Muslim? Or what about American slave and master costumes?
Owner Jo Pilkington has had a few clients she s politely declined to work with (and yes, this was one of them) but not all have set out to deliberately cause offence. When an English fashion designer wanted some korowai for a photoshoot, Pilkington gave her a call to ask what she had in mind.