It’a jungle out there
By Jehan Casinader,
A Kiwi institution is set to go global. Can it keep its homegrown mojo?
[… Counterpoint]
We’re quick to sell the family silverware in this country, especially to foreigners with attractive leather wallets. From infrastructure like airports and railways to cultural treasures like war medals and the national film unit. We’re not strapped for cash but we crave a sense of antipodean validation.
We’ve heard that all before. But in the arts there is a new, relevant distinction. We are quickly realising we can export more than ‘stuff’—paintings, trilogies and toilets for biennales. Concept-driven ‘formats’ and creative approaches are becoming precious commodities. In an age in which little is new in the arts, our innovative ways of doing things are just as valuable as our artistic products themselves.
- Point: The joke’s on us
World Of WearableArt, a prime example, has used its humble backyard beginnings as a selling point. After two decades, WOW has become a drawcard for chardonnay-sippers of all artistic persuasions. The event found an undeniably classy edge upon moving to the capital, in contrast to its first incarnation in a Nelson community hall, showcasing kitchen-table creations. But the event remains distinctively Kiwi, made from blood, sweat and tears in suburban garages.
There is demand overseas for the show’s creative process, not just its mesmerising outfits. But over a third of this year’s entries were made by foreign designers and strikingly, many entries had been seen before at New York Fashion Week and Asia’s main catwalks. The organisers say they’re proud to showcase those garments. Even so, for a festival gives a voice to quiet, amateur Kiwi talent, the ‘think global, act local’ mantra seems lost.
As stakeholders in our nation’s parochialism, which translates into selling power overseas, we are all entitled to have a motherly affection for projects like this. But it is creative ownership, not creative flavour, that we should be concerned about. Any demand that WOW should stay in New Zealand is symptomatic of the tall-poppy syndrome, as the organisers surely have every right to look at the rich veins to mine offshore. But it’s worth asking: can a homegrown product survive removal from its roots? If a quintessentially Kiwi product develops an international flavour, can it retain its mojo?
It’s so rare that a homegrown project of this scale finds international marketability. However, there’s an inherent danger in being lured offshore by the lucrative market for the ‘Kiwi feel’; the last thing we want is to worsen our creative deficit by importing products made with Kiwi talent which we nurtured first, both financially and creatively.
As far as the art itself goes, the threat is almost self-fulfilling. Our creative quality is in demand overseas because it’s unique, but a foreign context can dilute that original appeal.
WOW’s organisers say they are inviting (and indeed persuading) foreign designers to leave their mark. Australian entries hit a high this year after organisers held functions in major Australian cities to solicit entries, despite the fact that wearable art is virtually unknown in Australia. The foreign focus, the organisers say, achieves two goals; it injects cultural diversity, and turns creative eyes towards New Zealand. Interest in the event has snowballed. Organisers have worked with fashion and art institutes, which leads to media and sponsorship interest.
WOW has held mini-events in Dubai, Los Angeles and Singapore. Idealog understands there are plans to take a full show offshore in the near future, although the organisers are coy at this stage. If so, the project would essentially be plucked from Wellington and placed ‘as-is’ into another city’s creative scene. An entry from an Indian designer this year uses bamboo shoots, coconut products and banana fibres to tell the story of the weaver finch, a bird not even found in this country. It’s not the only example. Imagine last year’s People’s Choice garment, inspired by Wellington’s wind, in an US show. Or think of a reverse example. Audiences will be unable to relate to the themes, which defeats the purpose.
We commonly remind ourselves that what works here may not be so popular in Dubai, Israel and the Netherlands. Those countries, however, are now involved. While WOW’s commercialisation is inevitable, it originally represented Nelson; now it represents the nation. Nelson is left with a head office and a wearable art museum. Like family relics gathering dust on a mantelpiece. A museum is not what this country wishes to be.
Anonymous comments on this post are disabled. Please sign up to post a new comment.