Hello All:
WE NEED YOU…to take action today, so ensure your economy around your art benefits you and your family.
Today, many Aboriginal artists struggle to make a living. What if you could influence the way people think about buying First Nation art?
What if you could help people understand WHY they need to buy REAL artworks, and not what is common in many retailers today?
You know those products, the ones where the art form is faked by a non Native person, or where a piece has been bought then copied by the thousands, with no additional benefit going to the creating artist? At recent gift shows, where retailers buy from suppliers, people from around the world are now starting to sell at a commodity level sacred masks and other objects, that have nothing to do with their cultures. We need to stop this through educating the tourist, buyers of art, and other collectors.
Give yourself a voice, meet with people who are interested in helping consumers understand…then, there will be an incredible demand from visitors to BUY AUTHENTIC ABORIGINAL ART. When they start asking retailers the tough questions on their sourcing, it will make them think about what kind of goods they have for sale, and it will create a higher demand for Authentic made by Aboriginal people art works.
We need all artists, from those beginning careers to well established, to come out and support this program. It does not matter if you have a studio, or work part time from home. If you make it and sell it, you should be at this meeting. Every voice counts. It will make a difference in your future, and in the future of generations to come.
Please help to spread the word, we want as many artisans as we can to benefit from this FREE workshop provided by the Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC (AtBC).
Hosted at beautiful Sasquatch Crossing Eco Lodge, in the Beating Heart of Sts’ailes.
Gilakas'la!
Paula
Paula Cranmer-Underhill
Tourism Officer
T. 604-796-2116 (Local 240)
Paula.Cranmer-Underhill@chehalisband.com