Many of these are near-exact copies of original works in galleries in Canada and the problem is acute with West Coast art.īovey wants ministers to set up a unit to help Indigenous artists whose work is being reproduced without their knowledge track down and chase those who infringed their copyright, at least so they get paid. The unauthorized and fake Indigenous works range from reproductions of First Nations art on T-shirts, bedspreads, plastic bowls and bags, to carved masks and totem poles made from wood grown in Southeast Asia. She is lobbying the government to reform copyright law to give more protection to Indigenous artists against unscrupulous businesses reproducing their images without their knowledge. Patricia Bovey, the first art historian to sit in the Senate, said the industry of fake Indigenous art may be worth millions of dollars and breaches artists’ intellectual property rights. Hunt said raising tariffs on imports of copies could slow them down but he said the fakes were being mass produced, undercutting genuine Indigenous artists and making it harder for young First Nations carvers to make a living in what he said is a $1-billion industry. The federal government is facing calls to take action, including from a senator who wants a reform to copyright law, a unit to help Indigenous artists track down fakes and stronger border checks for art in Indigenous styles. It’s like the dreamcatcher coming from Taiwan or China. They are selling them as Indigenous,” he said. In Bali, Indonesia, they are making northwest coast masks. “I’ve stopped people making postcards of my work I’ve found out about. One of the well-known Indigenous artists to have images of their work reproduced without permission is British Columbia carver Richard Hunt.
First Nations art, from hand-carved masks to totem poles, draws on generations of tradition and skill and can take months to craft.īut a flood of fakes and commercial knock-offs produced in Asia and eastern Europe are exploiting Indigenous culture, the artists say, and robbing them of revenue.