The industry ranges from designs copied onto apparel and home decor to carved masks and totem poles, reproduced in Asia and Eastern Europe and sold cheaply.Kwagiulth artist Richard Hunt at his studio in Victoria, B.C. Hunt has had images of his art used without his permission. The K'ómoks and Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw artist is the creative mind behind a popular Every Child Matters logo that's on orange T-shirts across the country.
Everson said he didn't have the time or resources to pursue legal action. So there wasn't much he could do to stop businesses from profiting from his work and the outpouring of support for Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.Designers warn to avoid orange shirts exploiting Indigenous art ahead of Sept. 30
Patricia Bovey is using her position in the Senate raise awareness about fraudulent Indigenous art. . Over 1,000 paintings had sold for tens of thousands of dollars to "unsuspecting members of the public," according to police. Hunt, whose work has been replicated many times, recalls seeing an image on Facebook of one of his sun masks.
"Everything I produce has a meaning," he said. "I don't make a mask just to make a mask. I mean, you could wear it in a ceremony. And all these other people are just in it for the money." "It's immensely frustrating to see these original pieces of art being reproduced, and correspondingly undervalued. Currently, there is not a ton of initiatives that are being undertaken to address this," Miller said.