Wardrobe and props departments reviewed their collections from the perspective of cultural appropriation
Students initiated a discussion on cultural appropriation and the items in the Theatre Academy’s wardrobe and props storages last autumn. This work led to interesting talks, critical reflections and reviews of the items in the storages, says Head of Wardrobe Kati Autere.
The Theatre Academy’s wardrobe and props storages have been reviewed to see if they contain any clothes, accessories or items that may be found racist or disrespectful towards a certain group of people. The work was initiated in August 2022 by students who had found some of the items in the departments offensive.
After going through the items in the storage, the props department decided to remove certain items, including some advertisements, masks and a few toy headdresses emulating the clothes of Indigenous Americans. The wardrobe department moved Sámi hats to a locked storage and removed a few turbans from its collection. Clothes of different cultures were also assembled in more consistent collections and the names of the sections were updated.
Users of the wardrobe and props storages are encouraged to contact the staff if they ever feel like some of the content that they find there is offensive. The decision to remove clothes or items from the storage is always made by the wardrobe and props staff together with the Theatre Academy management, if necessary.
“The biggest progress happened in our brains, among us employees. We have processed and reflected on this topic on our own and as a group. This issue brings up challenging issues, such as can simply the existence of a piece of clothing or an item be offensive? Who bears the responsibility for using a piece of clothing or an item? Who gets to define what we have in our storages? What role does education have, and what is the role of the performing arts environment?” Autere commented.
The topic has been discussed by the Theatre Academy executive group in November and March and at a teacher seminar in January.
Join the discussion on the topic at the dean’s morning coffee on 27 April
Students and staff have the chance to discuss cultural appropriation in performing arts from the perspective of wardrobe and props, in particular, in the extended morning coffee session hosted by the dean on Thursday, 27 April, at 8:00. Costume Designer Helmi Hagelin will give an introductory presentation in the event. All students and staff members are sent a calendar invitation to the dean’s morning coffee break.