We posted about this a few months ago in our blog HERE. Today we came across this photo response to it by Tangerine Mountain, a company selling vintage kimonos at Anime conventions and wanted to share it:
They had this to say explaining the pictures:
A Photo Response to Protests Against the M.F.A. Boston Kimono Exhibit
At Tangerine Mountain, we are proud to serve ALL customers, regardless of ethnicity or race, ability or disability, religion or creed, sexual identity or orientation. We believe wholeheartedly that kimono are for everyone. So do a lot of Japanese folks.
When Claude Monet’s “La Japonaise” originally toured Japan, an event similar to Kimono Wednesdays at M.F.A. Boston accompanied it. There were no protests when this occurred, because everyone understood that the point of the exhibit was to provide those who had not yet experienced kimono a small but beautiful glimpse into Japanese culture. The point of the exhibit was not to narrowly categorize or exoticize, but rather, to open dialogue and create an opportunity for cultural exchange.
The same goals were true for the M.F.A. Boston exhibit. However, instead of taking the opportunity to engage the community regarding a unique aspect of Japanese culture, a small group of ignorant bullies caused the museum to suspend the exhibition, causing unnecessary racial tension. Those who protested the M.F.A. Boston not only hurt the museum and community, but their actions are actively harming the kimono industry, and thus, Japan, by implying that it’s racist for non-Japanese to touch, wear, or otherwise appreciate kimono. Even the Deputy Consul General of Japan in Boston said that they did not understand the point of the Kimono Wednesdays protest. ...
read entire article HERE.