EDITOR’S NOTE
Dear Reader, Artists are inspired by beauty, whether it is from their own culture or another. Since Paleolithic humans began painting on cave walls, people have been influenced by the various cultures that compose the human race. The lines between cultures are often blurred in this nebulous composition of humanity, and navigating where cultural appreciation stops and appropriation begins can be uncertain. Cultural appropriation (often referred to as cultural misappropriation) occurs when a person assumes aspects of a culture that is not their own. More specifically, it occurs when a person of an oppressive culture assumes aspects of a systemically oppressed minority culture for entertainment and capital gain. The act of cultural appropriation (e.g., donning another culture’s symbols and dress without understanding their meaning) does more than just disrespect the exploited…
