Friendly reminder if you come to Australia do NOT buy indigenous art souvenirs unless they are made by indigenous artists. Indigenous art souvenirs are a multi million dollar industry, where indigenous communities make no money from their own culture. You can’t go anywhere without seeing fake indigenous products, mass produced boomerangs and didgeridoos front every tourist location in the country. Majority of these items are not made by indigenous artists, are mass produced, inaccurate and stereotypical, missing the story telling and deep meaning of indigenous Australian art.
These fake pieces are more than just things, they are robbery of culture, it takes something deeply personal and sacred from real people, all so that the rich can continue to make profit. This successfully harms indigenous communities and indigenous artists, who make beautiful and cultural significant pieces that are discarded in favour for cheap mass produced items made by large corporations.
Wandjuk Marika describes this:
“Our art and culture are very dear to us, they embody the past history of my people, our beliefs today, and our strength to survive. Whilst wanting to protect ourselves and our art and culture for future generations, at the same time we are eager for all the world to witness the beauty and strength of our culture as expressed by our artists. To retain a jealous hold on our cultural heritage is not our desire, but we must realise our responsibility to safeguard this heritage and to ensure that Aboriginals at last achieve the recognition that is universally attributed to all artists.” - Wandjuk Marika, Yolgnu (Artist) 1975
If you want something really beautiful to take home with you that is actually Australian buy REAL indigenous art. To do this
1. Buy directly from indigenous small businesses, galleries and artists.
2. If an item does not credit the artist and you can’t tell where it came from, the it is likely fake or something that an artist did not give permission to be recreated. Ask what the artist was paid, the artists name and where the item was produced, if they can’t answer any of these questions then do not buy. An ethical seller should have no issue providing information on where the art comes from.
3. Look for businesses that are members of the indigenous art code. You can find them through the indigenous art code website here