Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year
Photo by Fortune, c. 2012

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Beautiful Dinka

Image: Angela Fisher & Carol Beckwith

Just when James Cameron announces that we can anticipate not one but two sequels to Avatar, comes the book DINKA: Legendary Cattle Keepers of Sudan about the Dinka peoples of Sudan by brilliant photographers Angela Fisher and Carol Beckwith.


There were numerous recognizable references from the Dinka culture in the first Avatar film, such as the beaded bodices worn by these young women. An almost identical bodice worn by Queen Moat is one example. I doubt seriously that Cameron has made any sizable contribution to the people whose aesthetic has inspired his success.

Maybe I ask too much.

LAFF

1 comment:

  1. LAFF... i think perhaps you should start a public dialogue - on a page other than your blog - about james cameron's appropriation, without attribution, of Dinka culture.

    what do you want him to contribute to the Dinka? suggest what he NEEDS to give back and why, BECAUSE obviously he doesn't know.

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