MFA (Boston) recasts kimono days after complaints of stereotyping

Boston Globe ^ | July 7, 2015 | Malcolm Gay

[C19fan]

In an episode that speaks volumes about cultural institutions, ethnic sensitivity, and the power of protest in the digital age, the Museum of Fine Arts is hastily pulling back on an event that protesters labeled a latter-day form of racist minstrelsy.

MFA officials announced Tuesday they would recast “Kimono Wednesdays,” an attraction scheduled to run throughout July. It is extremely rare for the MFA to change exhibition plans in the wake of protests; it appears such action had not been taken for decades.

Created as a light summer distraction, “Kimono Wednesdays” invited visitors to “channel your inner Camille Monet” by donning museum-provided kimonos and posing for photos in front of Claude Monet’s “La Japonaise,” a painting of the artist’s wife wearing a kimono.

[C19fan]

So should all the late 19th/early 20th century art inspired by Japanese woodcuts be shoved into the basement since isn’t that “cultural appropriation” too. How about all the modern art inspired by traditional artisans from Africa and Asia?

[BenLurkin]

A charming work of art and really quite gorgeous.

Anyone who complains about that it nuts.

[C19fan]

A gorgeous painting and beautiful pose by Monet’s wife.

[chajin]

A worldwide group of us who are deeply involved in Japanese culture in general, and the wearing of kimono by women in particular, consisting of the whole political spectrum, have, I discovered to my surprise, come to agreement on two points. First, it was stupid for the museum to cave on this. Second, the museum could have used this as a “teachable moment,” to give presentations on the differences between Japonisme in the late 1800s and the actual wearing of kimono in Japan at that time, and how it is worn by Nihonophiles throughout the world today. Even in the painting, Monet points to this, by having the actual Japanese woman in the fan on the right glare at the French blonde who is the focus of the painting, as if to say, “When are you gonna learn how to put it on RIGHT?” But God forbid that we call microaggressive stupidity for what it is.

[all the best]

The PC crowd would have been in a real pickle if Bruce had shown up and insisted on wearing a kimono.

[Jack Hammer]

A bit more political silliness from ultra-PC Massachusetts.

[Bucky14]

If these were legit protestors, they would throw blood on the Monets. Bunch of hipster protestors.

[wideawake]

They have a good point.

It's only fair.

The Japanese themselves are scrupulously cautious about never imitating other peoples' culture.

[Fiji Hill]

These protests seem to be a part of an emerging liberal-leftwing cause--doing away with "cultural appropriation" or "misappropriation, in which members of the "dominant" culture appropriate elements of the "subject" or "repressed" culture. For example, "Anglos" who dress as American Indians or African witch doctors at Halloween, hold Mexican-style fiestas or feature piñatas at birthday parties are engaging in "cultural appropriation," which in liberal eyes, is now a politically incorrect sin.

Now that the museum has caved, expect the same sort of protests at similar events.