Longish but fascinating read about Chiraag Bhakta's ordeal setting up an exhibit (titled #WhitePeopleDoingYoga) at the Asian Art Museum in SF.
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The Whitewashing of #WhitePeopleDoingYoga
- Thread starter whatsinaname
- Start date
Longish but fascinating read about Chiraag Bhakta's ordeal setting up an exhibit (titled #WhitePeopleDoingYoga) at the Asian Art Museum in SF.
This was a very interesting read, goddamn there must have been so much frustration throughout that entire process.
The last paragraph is so on point
The last paragraph is so on point
OP
OP
I love how the Cleveland Art Museum was ok with the exhibit till the point where the local yoga studios wanted to use the space to co-advertise and pushed this exhibit out.
Lmao this quote sums it up so well
"Here were white elites exerting power over Brown critique that was explicitly about white elites exerting power over Brown culture."
"Here were white elites exerting power over Brown critique that was explicitly about white elites exerting power over Brown culture."
White appropriation knows no bounds. I think the observation about how a capitalist society helps to enhance the appropriation is on-point. Once there's a profit motive, anything can be commodified.
If you want to actually interact and utilize the spiritual aspect of yoga it makes some sense to translate that into the religion you observe.
Sounds pretty typical, unfortunately museum admins tend to be the biggest thing holding exhibits back, especially with big blockbuster style exhibitions like this that need to bring in the masses, nothing scares them more than the potential for an angry newspaper op-ed. I would tend to agree with the curator's comments that such a provocative installation, or more rather a simply dramatic shift in tone from the rest of the exhibit, would be difficult to place into context for visitors and could lead to confusion or misinterpretation. That shouldn't be a reason not to include it, but simply a sign that the exhibit's didactic text should go out of its way to ensure that visitors can approach it with the right mindset.
I don't understand: if you are white, you can't practice yoga?
Whitewashing is about representation, am I wrong? Sincretism is fine, as long as you remember the roots of the practice/custom/artistic movement.
Otherwise, none of us should eat anything but what our ancestors use to grow.
EDIT:
In this specfic case, i?ve missed that the curators of the museum were white. Yes, they were quite hypocritical.
Whitewashing is about representation, am I wrong? Sincretism is fine, as long as you remember the roots of the practice/custom/artistic movement.
Otherwise, none of us should eat anything but what our ancestors use to grow.
EDIT:
In this specfic case, i?ve missed that the curators of the museum were white. Yes, they were quite hypocritical.
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Did you read the article? Because it explains things quite well I'd say.
Did you read the article? It's goes indepth at explaining the issue
I am just happy just not to be refereed to as Negroid. A strong possibility in my area
White fragility is a beautiful thing. Folks should read the whole article. I liked the merch section particularly.
What did you call me?!?!?!?
What did you call me?!?!?!?
My mom and dad tried to ban me (a 30 something year old woman) from doing yoga due to the fact that it's from Satan, basically.
(Satan= any belief system not Christian.)
Always have a bit so say about this since I practice and teach yoga (and am white). From a capitalist view, 100% right. From plastering Sat Nam and Namaste on absolutely everything, to literally changing the chakra colors to cater to people in the west more by making it rainbow colored (hint: it's not a rainbow) dude is right on. But, from what I've seen, from a person-to-person standpoint, it comes far more from a place of respect than appropriation. Definitely going to read through the whole article, though. Admittedly skimmed it.
White people get super bothered at the term white people. I've randomly used the term for comedic effect with my friends, but if there's someone new or a girlfriend in the group, they give off this vibe. It's kind of awkward.
And I bet you these same folks have no problem with saying "Black people."
Man, it's almost as if there is a comfortable privilege in being addressed as a nondescrept "people," probably because there is a lot of unaddressed context, baggage, and hurt that has been primarily maintained and perpetuated by white people in this country.....
.....
No that couldn't be it.
It's hilarious actually, I've got some pretty blatant racist family members who get INSANELY triggered when I make blanket statements followed by "fucking white people".
I'M NOT WHITE, I'M <insert race>
NOW CELEBRATE MY CULTURE WHILE I CONTINUE TO IGNORE YOURS
bruh this is so ignorant.
SF is a minority-majority city and it's continuing to shift even more in that direction
on the article. Yeah sounds about right when it comes to how museums operate.
Apparently white people should only eat "white" food? Potatoes and bologna mayonnaise sandwiches it is!
Soo, take the spiritual roots out of yoga and shoehorn it into your religion so you can enjoy those same spiritual aspects without acknowledging them? That sounds like ridiculous appropriation to me, you can't separate yoga from Hinduism.
I think the main point is that it's a problem curators are overwhelmingly white men and that artists of color deserve to have their points made.
100% agree.
However, modern/western Yoga is more an example of an eastern influence success story than exploitative colonialism. Western Yoga was intentionally introduced and adapted by Dharma Mittra (a Brazilian) and Indian practitioners like Bikram Choudhury and Jyotirmayananda Saraswati (among many others). Yoga becoming a form of exercise is far from being a problem for them as they publish hundreds of books and have world renowned schools that still exist today.
100% agree.
However, modern/western Yoga is more an example of an eastern influence success story than exploitative colonialism. Western Yoga was intentionally introduced and adapted by Dharma Mittra (a Brazilian) and Indian practitioners like Bikram Choudhury and Jyotirmayananda Saraswati (among many others). Yoga becoming a form of exercise is far from being a problem for them as they publish hundreds of books and have world renowned schools that still exist today.
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Mad respect for Thailand, cant hate. I never wondered about them because theres simply not many Thai places near me, but I did wonder about Peruvian food, because I don't see that many Peruvians but everyone loves ceviche.
On this very forum, I called a bunch of proud boy types "white fragile snowflakes" and other people here (who I assume were mostly white) got salty about me saying they were white. lol
White fragility is a hell of a drug
White fragility is a hell of a drug
Fascinating and embarrassing situation. Institutional racism excels equally in its immorality and resilience, unfortunately.
Absolutely pathetic story. I hope the gatekeepers are someday able to be ashamed of themselves.
Absolutely pathetic story. I hope the gatekeepers are someday able to be ashamed of themselves.
Potatoes were domesticated in the Americas a couple thousand years ago. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯