February 23, 2008

Aesthetic Privilege

As a Black woman educated at an HBCU, it has been very interesting to notice the overlap between gender, ethnicity, and aesthetics. It's not my personal crusade, but it is something I think about. How and in what way do you see the arts (whatever your specialty) as being dominated by a particularly White and masculine aesthetic? To what extent is the current artistic climate able to enter meaningful discourse with divergent works? How should artists and audiences go about doing that? What can we do to expand our artistic paradigms (and vocabulary) to incorporate different methods of artistic expression?

2 comments:

  1. Yes, I do think that the current artistic climate is White and male. And while I may seem a broken record, I think that the approach of theatre tribes might be a way to break that stranglehold. If we can create theatres that are embedded within communities, instead of attempting to appeal to an undifferentiated and unknown mass audience, we can support playwrights and artists who can speak from local knowledge in a way that appeals to specific communities. And the personal contact between artist and community might encourage people who otherwise wouldn't consider theatre an entertainment option to give it a try.

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  2. If we can create theatres that are embedded within communities, instead of attempting to appeal to an undifferentiated and unknown mass audience, we can support playwrights and artists who can speak from local knowledge in a way that appeals to specific communities. [T]he personal contact between artist and community might encourage people who otherwise wouldn't consider theatre an entertainment option to give it a try.

    I think this is key. You and I and most of the readers who post to your blog seem to understand this. So, how do we deepen this conversation to help other tribes identify their aesthetic and recognize others who would participate in it?

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