Conversations in Creative cultures: Weekly Blog post 10

Outline some of the issues and considerations regarding appropriation in the context of art and design using Engles Swarzpauls "Dislocating Wiremu and Rau: The wild man in virtual worlds" to support your discussion: (225 words)

The concept of the ‘wild man’ as mentioned in Engels Swarzpaul's “Dislocating William and Rau” has existed for a long Time. The character Rau in The Mark of Kri fits this image of a wild man as he is designed with strong muscles and a small head implying he is physical rather than intelligent. Despite that Rau has been said to not be Maori by the Lead Designer, he still has striking characteristics that link him to Maori culture making him controversial. Rau sports a Maori name but also face tattoos like Maori moko and wields a taiaha (spear), a Maori weapon. This can be extremely problematic to the representation of Maori as not only have the game designers used pieces of Kaupapa Maori but they have done no research into understanding the mātauranga Maori behind these traditions. Kushla Parekowhai reworked the image of William Shakespeare, a symbol of intelligence and by adding the moko to him she made a statement fighting the stereotype that Maori cannot be intellectual or intelligent. The difference between these two examples is who created them as Kushla is Maori and the creators of The Mark of Kri are not. Other cultures cannot understand Maori traditions without extensive research and should not exploit them for profit without a clear understanding of its significance, “Appropriation produces privilege, privilege legitimises appropriation” (Engels Swarzpaul, Tina. "Dislocating William and Rau: The Wild Man in Virtual Worlds". AUT University, pp. 5).