Forced Secularization and Postmodern Discourses within Contemporary Performance: Weaponizing Multicultural Rhetoric to Ratify Asymmetries among Dance Practitioners

Abstract

In the context of the multicultural and postmodern rhetoric of contemporary art festivals, we examine a case study in which the Hungarian choreographer Eszter Salamon appropriates Mapuche practices—the kawell tayil and the choike purrún—in her piece Monument 0.6: Landing (A Ritual of Empathy) (2017). We analyze the discursive and embodied dimensions of this borrowing and its harmful consequences for indigenous communities. We show how the postmodern values of secular art institutions and the legal limitations to protect indigenous ritual expressions contribute to these dynamics. Adopting an optimistic stance, we outline criteria for curatorial practices that could prevent further misuses of indigenous culture.