Imaging Difference: The Politics of Representation in Multicultural Art Education

Abstract

This paper examines the notion of “accurate” and “authentic” representations of culture in multicultural art education discourses. Drawing on feminism and neo-Marxist analyses of culture, I call into question the taken for granted view that replacing biased and stereotypic representations with purported accurate and authentic representations will fix misunderstandings regarding nonwhite people and their cultures. The analysis focuses specifically on the ways authentic and accurate representations are constructed in two discursive sites in multiculturalism: museums and aesthetics. Based on my understanding of representation's role in shaping our understanding of other cultures and its direct connection to issues of power and dominance, I call for an inclusion of a politics of location and positionality in relation to multiculturalism. Implications for teaching multicultural art education are briefly outlined.