Imagining the Orient: Cultural Appropriation in the Florence Broadhurst Collection

Vicki Karaminas

This paper is a case study of Australian wallpaper designer, Florence Broadhurst, and The Broadhurst Collection and examines the motifs and printing techniques applied in the design process. By drawing on primary data in the form of interviews, as well as interrogating selected work from scholars from the fields of cultural criticism, anthropology, postcolonialism and design theory, this paper will discursively interpret the ways in which Florence Broadhurst consumed and rearticulated dominant signs - from Western discourses of art to decorative design and Orientalism. By considering the diverse interplay between the complex processes of 'appropriation' and production, this paper also raises the important issues of cross-cultural experience, cultural awareness, and social responsibility in the ways that designers address the politics and ideologies that inform their design processes and practices.