Dancing with Ga(y)nesh: Rethinking cultural appropriation in multicultural Australia

Abstract

Into the asserted authenticity or continuity of tradition, ‘secular’ blasphemy releases a temporality that reveals the contingencies, even the incommensurabilities, involved in the social transformation. 1 The discourse and practice of ‘ofe cial’ multiculturalism is always constituted through cultural hegemony, struggles over representation and prevailing ideological norms. It is not surprising that these processes are also played out in everyday encounters. When multiculturalism is celebrated because it is socially and culturally enriching, this hegemonic ideal renders all forms of cultural borrowing and appropriation as positive contributions to the multicultural project. While multiculturalism offers a space for the intermingling and mutual borrowing of ‘difference’, rarely are the ethical and discursive dimensions of such practices debated. Here, our aim is to examine these dimensions in relation to the question of the very thin (and dife cult to discern and dee ne) line between positive ‘enrichment’ and problematic ‘appropriation’. Our argument here is that multiculturalism should be conceived as lived practice, rather than reie ed cultural formation. Such a move highlights the need for sustained analysis of contextual and situated instances of intercultural and intercommunal interaction and borrowings. In this paper, we will examine the ethical and discursive dimensions of one particular act of cultural borrowing, where, in the view of some, this line was crossed. The paper offers a brief analysis of the appropriation of Hindu religious imagery at the 1999 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Sleaze Ball, themed ‘Homosutra’. Our discussion is primarily directed at understanding the distress this ball caused Indian communities in Sydney and abroad. At the centre of this debate were the twin issues of religious appropriation and the preservation of religious tradition. Our concern therefore is to critically examine the ethical dimensions of cultural appropriation, in relation to questions of power and social context, and the implications for intercommunal relationships in multicultural Australia.