CIM409 Week 3
Globalisation and Hybridity
My thoughts this week for a project for this module have centred around the concepts of a specific party that I work at as a projection mapping freelancer. It is called Showdown (Instagram: @showdown.events) and is advertised as a conscious gathering featuring DJ’s, an opening cacao ceremony, intention-setting guided meditation, and sexy dance performances by professional dancers. It purports to be drug and alcohol-free and tickets go for around $80. My first impression of this party was of pure cultural appropriation for financial gain, but having worked 4 of these parties now, what we are also seeing is globalisation and cultural appreciation. Byron Bay, where this party is held, is known for it’s health and wellness culture, and cacao ceremonies are becoming popular. Archaeologically dated to the Mayans (Wilcox, 2021), cacao beans were depicted on pottery being given to humanity by the gods. Wilcox points out that “In most Western cases, cacao is being incorporated into ceremonial experiences that are entirely new, that may draw from numerous modalities and from numerous different cultures”. This particular party explores Hindu sexual beliefs that sex is not sinful (Chandrasekar & Gurusamy, 2019). American Hip hop culture in the form of breakdancing is another influence, as well as Buddhist concepts of breathwork, mantras and guided meditation (Stone, 2020). This “New Age Spirituality”, aligning with the astrological Age of Aquarius, became popular in the 1960’s, with advocates taking psycho-active drugs to achieve new states of awareness and now exerting more and more influence on Western culture, despite not having a fixed creed or identifiable organisation (Collins, 2020).
Gómez-Peña (2001) has a purist perspective on this, and I also agree with him. His is the argument for preserving traditional cultures, instead of handpicking features or concepts that are entertaining to dominant cultures for commercial gain. It is a hard line to toe - entertainment is profitable, and other cultures can be shocking or comedic when making content for the mainstream.
Reference List
Chandrasekar, P., & Gurusamy, P. (2019). Role of Hinduism in creating awareness about sex and its related functions. Journal of Psychosexual Health, 1(2), 114–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631831819849363
Collins, P. (1998). New Age Spirituality. www.jstor.org. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27663593?read-now=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Gómez-Peña, G. (2001). The new global culture: Somewhere between corporate multiculturalism and the mainstream bizarre (A border perspective). TDR: The Drama Review 45(1). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stone, L. (2020, October 10). I am a white meditation and yoga teacher, so am I guilty of cultural appropriation? The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yoga-mindfulness-meditation-cultural-appropriation-b911483.html
Wilcox, A. (2021, October 5). The Sacred Cacao Ceremony: Is it Healing or Culturally Appropriative? DoubleBlind Mag. https://doubleblindmag.com/sacred-cacao-ceremony-cultural-appropriation/
