This artist/collector is pro-appropriation:

Q: The time span between early African art and contemporary art is wide. Do artists today appreciate traditional African art?

A: Certainly I believe a handful do care about, study and are somewhat influenced by African art, particularly masks. And I feel I’m following in the footsteps of artists like Gauguin, Picasso, Modigliani, Klee, Matisse and, more recently, Bacon and Basquiat, who were emotionally connected to and influenced by traditional African art.

from

‘Love at First Sight’ Inspired This African Art Collection

Olusanya Ojikutu, who has origins in Nigeria and education and experience in art, shares treasures of African culture and history.

By Audrey Hofer @ NYTimes.com, Dec. 25, 2019

BOWIE, Md. — The white living room in Olusanya Ojikutu’s home, with its soaring cathedral ceiling, is a temple to his traditional and contemporary African art. Sculptures bookend the sofa, paintings and prints decorate the walls and the overall atmosphere is one of beauty, historic grandeur and repose.

Most of Ojikutu’s sculptures are at least a century old, created for performances or rituals. “They served as intermediaries between the local people and their ancestors’ spirits to make their lives better and protect them from evil forces in this world and beyond,” he said.

Among the dozens of sculptures are a metal Kota reliquary guardian figure from Gabon, a wood Bamana Chi Wara headdress from Mali and a wood-fiber Bwa plank mask from Burkina Faso.

“African art has long been seen as a monolith, but it really has many different origins,” said Mr. Ojikutu, who is also an artist. “It should be recognized as more nuanced and coming from the many countries on the continent. I try to show that expanse of art forms and visual cultures in my collection.”

Mr. Ojikutu, 50, from Nigeria, emigrated to the United States in the mid-1990s. He and his wife, Yinka, both work in technology and live with their two teenage sons in a Washington suburb [....]

She's talking about this:

which I copied from here.

Heh. I follow RalpieRozay just because he often comes up with stuff like this:

I should say I am cynical about the narrative here, I suspect Riverdance is pushing the persecution meme for p.r. purposes...but whatever, it's all interesting

All people have different sense of humor, you know? There was a time when only Jewish people could tell Jewish jokes. When I was in Florida, some Jews came up to me afterwards and told me two wonderfully funny Jewish jokes, which I then incorporated in my act. Never had a complaint, because it’s obviously done because the Jews have such wonderful jokes.

That is true. We do.

And you can’t say it’s racial—what do you call it? When you wear a bandanna hat or something and people say, “Oh, it’s cultural appropriation.” I’ve never heard anything as fucking stupid in my life. It’s wonderful to learn from other cultures. It doesn’t devalue the real thing. It’s just a kind of purity. Purity always goes wrong. You know when there was the worst witch-hunting? When the Puritans were in charge. It doesn’t work to be too pure, because people deny their own negative stuff and then they start projecting it onto other people. The main thing is to be tolerant, try and listen, and try and be kind. And everything else is just waste of fucking energy!

excerpt from John Cleese Discusses Creativity, Political Correctness, Monty Python, and Artichokes

A conversation with the English comedian about artistic inspiration, cultural appropriation, and tabloid journalism.

By Michael Schulman @ NewYorker.com, September 20, 2020