Thread: Getting it [no respect] from all sides...[rant]

So, a little background. I work in a museum that has been putting A LOT of effort into "reaching out to our community" lately. We are located in Oakland, a city with a very diverse population--black, Asian, Latino. A lot of programing time and money goes into planning events that appeal to these populations. I have often tried to be the voice of the ME population (there is also a large Afghan and Persian community nearby), just to get frustrated when my voice isn't heard. There seems to be VERY LITTLE interest in reaching to these groups.

We have a small theater in the museum and we are associated with a company that brings in regular films. Our marketing department has sent us the lineup for the year and wants curatorial input on how to program around these films. For February, they are showing Arusi Persian Wedding, a documentary about, you guessed it, a traditional Persian wedding. I volunteered to help with the curatorial input. I mention in December (maybe even earlier, I can't remember) that dancing and music might be great for programming. Marketing mumbles something like, "huh.. we'll see" and then disappears... I hear nothing about this film until just now when I received this email:

Do you know of any dancers willing to do a pro bono performance Wednesday, February 25?

WTF!!!!! I can't even tell you how angry this makes me! We just had a HUGE event this past weekend for Lunar New Year, featuring music, dancers, dragons, etc. I'm sure they weren't performing for free. I'm also sure that other films, for whom they've brought in speakers to lead discussion, have had some sort of Marketing budget... I'm sure these speakers didn't do it for free!

I battle with Marketing constantly to respect the curatorial staff and not make us produce bubblegum for the masses (which is what they want us to produce), so this doesn't surprise me in the least...

but MAN, IT PISSES ME OFF!!!!! ,m::

I'm so sorry, Aazura! Just know that you're fighting a good fight & THANK YOU - SHUKRAN for sticking up for the ME cultural, specifically Oriental Dance.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Slight devil's advocation: is it possible the Lunar New Year event had significant outside sponsorship? I ask because one of the great developments in my city in recent years is a big Festival of Lights (which comes after Lunar New Year but is intensively Chinese New Year themed), which I think is largely funded by Asia New Zealand and possibly Chinese-owned business groups here.

It doesn't change the fact they seem to be exploiting you and/or just being clueless wankers. I suppose they get points for *remembering* what you said earlier...

Zumarrad, you make a good point, and yes I believe the Lunar New Year event did have outside sponsorship. It was also in collaboration with a couple other community organizations. But I think that's actually more to my point. They have yet to try any of these sorts of community collaborations with the ME community. Absolutely nothing gets done on Persian New Year, so example, and I'm sure outside sponsorship could be obtained for that kind of event just as much as it can for Lunar NY.

Clueless wankers really describes it better. I started teaching a BD101 class on First Fridays at the museum in January. It was HUGELY popular and successful... much to Marketing's distress, I believe (the First Friday events aren't organized by the Marketing dept). First off, I was PAID for my time. Second, they're still getting calls about the event. I think Marketing has gotten wind that "hey, maybe people might be interested in this belly dance thing" .... but they still don't want to pay for it b/c, you know, it's just a bunch of girls wiggling around.

GRRRRRRR!

You should be frustrated! I'm sorry that you are going through this. But, like Lesgemini said, you're awesome for fighting the good fight. Someone has to do it. It may be awhile, but if you keep on like this and pushing for the respect of our artform, then they'll eventually understand and have to cave in. Are there no other influential dancers that you can team up with?

BDF

That does stink. Maybe you can tell them all the dancers you know are professional bellydancers that do that for a living. And if they bring up the money...then maybe lead into a talk about them not working with the ME community to find sponsers for that type of event. Could lead to more than just hiring dancers for them if they did work with that side of the community too.

Originally Posted by aazura

I battle with Marketing constantly to respect the curatorial staff and not make us produce bubblegum for the masses (which is what they want us to produce), so this doesn't surprise me in the least...

but MAN, IT PISSES ME OFF!!!!! ,m::

Aazura, this totally wrong situation and your righteous anger, caused me to recall a famous movie line from one of the protagonists in John Carpenter's They Live, which now also seems quite apropos:

“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum." ,m::

Originally Posted by raksphoto

“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum." ,m::

Michael, you always know how to make me laugh!..l;,

Perhaps it would be helpful for you to reach out yourself to these communities. If there were ample outside sponsorship to put on a lavish Lunar New Year event, perhaps if you drummed up some support from the various local ME communities, you might be able to do the same. Maybe out on a limb you'll find what you are needing?

Ultimately, I have found that marketing comes down to money. I've likewise worked to put on cultural events in my town, and most of what people wanted was fluff.

But if you get some people from those communities to support and back you in your endeavors to highlight what's great about their culture to the world, you might have some success in doing exactly that. Marketing will say, "hey, there might be money here after all."