who knows?

recently, the russian ice dancing team performed a routine wearing an "aboriginal costume". they danced in an "aboriginal" style and wore dark skinned costumes with white lines and leaves glued onto it. they later recieved a lot of criticism and speculation from the media and from viewers about whether what they did was racist or inappropriate.

the aboriginal people of australia came forward and said that they didn't mind that the icedancers performed that way because although it was misguided, it was still with good intention and was meant to flatter. however there are a lot of people who think otherwise. but who are they to judge? if aboriginal people themselves are not offended by this performance than is it fair for us to be?

how deep can one persons level of understanding really go before they are limited by their own personal experiences and boundaries?

is culture something which can even be owned? the performers although elluding to the idea of aboriginals, used no actual dance or song from aboriginal culture and only insinuated aboriginal people by their dress. who are we to say they cannot dress that way or dance that way because it is already a certain culture's style? surely if that were so we would not be allowed to do anything in terms of performance.

this case is in some way similar to the case of the men at work and the song 'land down under'. yes the flute part sounds much like the folk song 'kookaburra sits in an old gum tree', but is the song not about Australia itself? to me i don't see a more appropriate place for such a well known australian folk song to appear.

in terms of the law, who actually owns that piece of music? it allegedly belongs to the descendants of the woman who created it. now this woman was a 'tawny owl' or 'guide leader' for her guides group and made it up as something to entertain the girls on their bush hike. when she died did she leave the physical rights of this song to her descendants? surely she didn't know quite how famous it would become?

should it not be australia who owns this song as it is about their nation and native animals? do we not know this song as a folk song of australia?

cultural identity seems to becoming something which some people have decided can be owned independantly, something which has become such a taboo subject, that no one can even begin to use it without asking for some longwinded response of approval.