Dear Diary

13/09/18

Clara’s workshop:
It was a weird experience. I’m not used to meditation or to taking my time to clear my head for a second. Having to be quiet when I was forced to be, was quite uncomfortable. It was good though, to take a moment to think about how well you really listen to people.

Black archives:
The Black Archive was pretty tough for me. Because almost all of the information, I had never heard about. I think the information should be told in Dutch history classes, especially if you choose to graduate with history. For me it was tough to hear the information. Because I knew people from my country had a lot to do with slavery and colonialism. But I never knew the facts on how long and bad the results were for the people involved. I had heard about games with blackface or using black people as bad or a joke, but I had never seen it in real life. So it definitely left an impression.

Muslim cool:
I didn’t really know what to expect from this talk. I thought it was really chaotic which resulted in me not really getting their point. It was interesting how they showed certain aspects of muslim culture that can be seen as ‘cool’ .

26/09/18

Today we talked about the subjects of interest for our papers. I had an issue in mind, but I was a bit stressed if it was good enough. I chose for cultural appropriation in the fashion industry. Because I believe it’s not talked about enough. Because it’s only talked about when magazines or celebrities are involved. But why are we not talking about all the white girls in festivals with their hair braided, for the aesthetic of it? Jan confirmed that it’s an important issue right now, so I felt relieved. I also feel inspired to do more research on it.

Problematic Halloween costume season

Willem de Kooning Facebook page:

Where's Waldo idea

Cultural Appropriation in WDKA ad

'International profile of the Academy' but still very white

Cultural appropriation at Graduation

'Inclusive' but only white models

Dear Diary,

This whole minor was great, but very exhausting as well. I learned so many new things. I finally have the insights I wanted to be able to go into discussions. The project was great and interesting for me, especially on a personal level. The process was very intensive and a lot of work and mainly emotional labor. I am extremely happy about this whole experience. I finally felt at home and welcome in a classroom. Because of this I have decided to move to Rotterdam for the next 6 months as well.

It was mainly interesting to work in a different context that what I am used to. In my major they want you to be creative in the concepts, but we do not go through the realization phase.

The minor has given me a safe space to talk about issues regarding social and political topics. At home and in my major there is no space to talk about it, because they are white spaces. And I am not understood.

I am very grateful for the experience and the things I have learned. The effort was worth it in the end. I believe that I can implement these things into my work after my major.