American University Intellectual Property Brief: “A Trademark Holi War”: “What started as a business venture between five German friends to make a commercialized version of the Holi festival has turned into a battle to be the king of the Holi festival trademark.”
“Holy sh**! They took our Holi and other adventures in Columbusing”: “Aah it’s September which means there’s a Holi-Holi feeling in the air. Come again? It’s true. I just saw a Groupon coupon $35 for registration for one at the Holi Color Festival on September 27 in Ohio. It’s a total bargain since it normally would cost $69.”
Thought Leader: “Nothing Holi about We Are One festival”: “Yes we live in a globalised world but taking a religious festival and keeping only the elements that you profit from by expanding it to a greater community does seem insensitive, if not grossly offensive.”
Everyday Feminism: “My Generation Hates Cultural Appropriation – But My Indian Parents Love It”: “Looking back at that now, I realized us first-generation kids spend our most formative years trying to fit into a culture that demands assimilation while simultaneously barring us from it.”
New Statesman: “How the festival of Holi has become a textbook case of cultural appropriation for profit”: “It’s an outmoded Orientalist gaze reinforcing, hackneyed colonial stereotypes, that seems to symbolize the combination of ignorance, insensitivity of this particular phenomenon, and rubs salt in the crass-cultural-appropriation-for-profit wound.”
Huffington Post: “The metamorphosis of Holi”: “So with Holi season coming to a close, it’s important to remember that when it comes to culture, there is a difference between respecting it and silencing it, a difference between “taking part in” and simply “taking.”
Identities.Mic: “Brooklyn Hipsters Celebrate Hindu Festival And It Definitely Isn’t Cultural Appropriation”: “Reveling isn’t the problem — Holi is supposed to be about fun, after all. But this sort of decontextualized adoption of an ancient religious celebration has offensive implications that are difficult to avoid.”
Mail & Guardian: “We Are One – if you can afford R290”: “Traditionally, Holi is a free event, with anyone in the community welcome to take part. We Are One tickets ran at R190 a ticket if you didn’t want the pre-approved Holi powder, and R290 if you wanted five packets of powder at the festival. You cannot, of course, bring in your own powder.”
WorldGuide: “Celebrating Holi in Europe – pure amusement or crossing a line?”: “If the commercialised festival borrows Holi’s name and one of its major practices, is it also obliged to acknowledge the festival’s roots and cultural background? Or is the whole occasion simply good fun, with no obligations to cultural and spiritual backgrounds?”
Event Content: “Holi Festival of Colours: Cultural appreciation or cultural appropriation?”: “As our world becomes more like a global community, it is natural that we may be inspired by the traditions of other cultures or religions however, the less we acknowledge those traditions within our own expression – the more we lean towards appropriating as opposed to appreciating.”
Hello Giggles: “Why it’s important to talk about cultural appropriation”: “But, had the event been organized by another group and stripped of the meaning behind the festival, it would have been a different story. With that in mind, let’s talk about context. It’s not okay to pick and choose pieces from someone else’s culture and turn them into a fashion trend.”
Chrichtonsworld: “Holi Festival of Colours/Cultural appropriation”: “I am very aware that traditions and cultures change and evolve and essentially I am all for that. However the removal of trivializing significance and commercialization of an traditional celebration can lead to destruction of a culture. And that simply won’t fly with me. You can’t put a number to values and humanity. In the end it’s only true thing you have.”
Wikster: “Het Hindoeïsme is geen Fashion-Lifestyle-Ding!”: “Ik weet niet wie de Facebookpage ‘Holi is geen Houseparty’ is begonnen, maar hulde! Eindelijk een initiatief dat goede aandacht krijgt. Een sterke en duidelijke stem.”
Sarnami.nl: “Holi is geen Houseparty: dekolonisatie van de geest of conservatief gedoe?”: “Waarom zouden wij het erbij moeten neerleggen als we het ergens niet mee eens zijn? Wij Hindoestanen hoeven niet altijd ja-knikkers te zijn? Tot hoever moeten wij ons nog aanpassen? Holi is geen House party: ik zeg dekolonisatie van de geest!”