Andrew Taylor on the Business of Arts & Culture
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When cultural experiences fall a bit short
Posted: March 4, 2004
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Disney officials in the USA confirmed there were no Welsh products on sale at present in the Magic of Wales store.
Instead, the shop offers a full range of Scottish items, including tartan ties, scarves, and even a map of the Scottish clans. So the Welsh North American Chamber of Commerce is stepping in to set things right.
Cultural managers are always struggling with extraordinarily complex issues of authenticity (how authentic is a performance of the 'throat-singers of Tuva,' for example, when performed in a historic opera house?...Or how authentic is an exhibit of Medieval religious iconography when hung on white museum walls?).
One way to avoid the shades of gray, I suppose, is to just get it boldly and absolutely wrong. Bravo Disney.