NAfter a concert was forced to end, the Swiss band Lauwarm want to discuss with their fans what inspiration and what cultural appropriation is. The background is an incident from July 18, which is now making waves: the band, made up of mostly white musicians, had to cancel a concert in Bern because it bothered some visitors that they were playing Jamaican music and some were wearing African clothes and dreadlocks.
“We treat all cultures with respect,” the band wrote on their Instagram account on Wednesday. “But we also stand by the music we play, our appearance and the way we are.” The band invited fans to a constructive dialogue under the hashtag #talklauwarm. “Basically, we think that the definition and difference between inspiration and appropriation needs to be discussed.”
“There is something very destructive about the discussion about cultural appropriation”
Cultural appropriation means that people use a culture that is not their own, for example through music or clothing. Dreadlocks are formed when hair becomes matted. Blacks in particular identify with dreadlocks hairstyles. In March, the Fridays for Future movement in Germany disinvited the white musician Ronja Maltzahn, who was supposed to perform at a demonstration in Hanover, because of her dreadlocks.
The Brasserie Lorraine restaurant in Bern, where the group performed on July 18, also made a statement. “We were also not aware enough of the scope of this topic and what it can do to people,” said the operator on Tuesday. However, they do not find “that members of the band or white people are automatically racists”. The restaurant has invited to an exchange for August 19th. “There is something very destructive about the current discussion of identity politics and cultural appropriation,” they write. “Fronts have formed and there is only black or white, right or wrong. We are concerned with the nuances.”
