Reproduction and Authenticity: A Case Study on Cultural Sustainability in Museums

This essay explores the politics of authenticity and reproduction through ‘mimesis’, the use of replicas, in the museum arena as it pertains to the year-long exhibition Knowing Cotton Otherwise at the Fashion for Good Museum in Amsterdam, from October 2022 – October 2023. Sustainability practices are explored with a specific focus on cultural sustainability. In this essay Fashion for Good Museum is highlighted as an example to discuss the topics of cultural sustainability, reproduction, mimesis, authenticity and cultural appropriation in museology. Cultural appropriation and reproduction are an increasingly prevalent occurrence within fashion and consumer culture, which has only accelerated in recent years due to the pervasiveness of the digital age (Wani et al. 2024). Incorporating a sociological approach, evidence compiled from personal conversations with collaborators from the exhibition, empirical observations of installations and a theoretical framework exploring theories of mimesis and cultural sustainability, this essay interrogates two case studies arguing how reproduction can encourage younger generations in the context of Amsterdam to reflect on their own consumer behaviours as future stakeholders in the fashion industry. Furthermore, it explores the methods for this, through the educational programme and toolkit Classroom of the Future: The Stories Behind Cotton and the installation by Dr Professor Sha’mira Covington, Curative, Confronting and Healing the Fashion-Industrial Complex.