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Pacific Textiles, Pacific Cultures: Hybridity & Pragmatic Creativity
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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Introductory essay to special issue of Pacific Arts journal, "Pacific Textiles, Pacific Cultures: Hybridity and Pragmatic Creativity". We introduce the concept of 'pragmatic creativity' as a counter to the discourses that situate handicrafts or bricolage as somehow second rate forms of creative or thoughtful practice. As we argue, the process of bricolage depends on artisans' keen observations of the world around them, and willingness to consider any available object or event as potential for artistic creativity. Bricolage implies lateral thinking, the re-configuring of objects and ideas to new, different, but culturally appropriate uses. We call this pragmatic creativity and argue that this sense that anything can be inspirational and can be re-deployed as a medium for aesthetic production is particularly salient for the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific.
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- Date created
- 2007-01-01
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- Type of Item
- Article (Published)