@sewingj you read and you listen with an open mind and heart.
I learned a lot in University as I got a degree in art history. Sounds airy fairy I know but the actuality is to understand the art of a people you have to learn all about them. Religion and spiritual beliefs, social structure, history, climate, food availability, geography and how they inform and shape each other. I know more about the Catholic Church than most of my Catholic friends.
Reading about different religions is a good place to start. Search "cultural appropriation" and understand what is meant by that. One online dictionary definition that I think is well worded is this:
the adoption or co-opting, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers associated with or originating in minority communities by people or communities with a relatively privileged status.
My main research stemmed from a big brouhaha on PR a couple of years ago regarding kimono. I spent days and hours reading, from bipoc instagrammers to the writings of college professors, news articles, and people passionate about the concept including those who believe they can do whatever they want whenever they want and "you can't stop me!"
It can be enlightening. My Native American ancestors were something to be ashamed of in white society in the 1930s so when my mom asked about her great grandmother she was told to be quiet, we don't talk about that. How pitiful that seems now. My personal take away from the research is that I'm actually biracial. That had never crossed my mind before.
Last night I listened to a livestream on tictok of a young Native American hoop dancer who was explaining the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation. A lot of his videos are gentle and kind ways of educating non Natives about appropriation.
Thank you for caring about appropriation.
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