Indigo Design Network

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http://www.indigodesignnetwork.org/?p=2716&cpage=1#comment-315

Aboriginal Motifs

Functions & Philosophies
1. Respect

The rights of Indigenous people to own and control their heritage, including Indigenous images, designs, stories and other cultural expressions, should be respected.

Customs and protocols for respect vary widely across the many and diverse communities of Indigenous Australian people. Respecting Indigenous rights to cultural heritage includes the following protocols.

When organising an exhibition, installation or event of local, state or national significance, it is respectful to invite a representative of the traditional owners to attend and give a ‘welcome to country’ address.

A ‘welcome to country’ is an address given by an Indigenous custodian of the land, included in the official opening of events. As a matter of cultural protocol, large cultural events should invite an Indigenous custodian or representative of the traditional landowner group to provide a ‘welcome to country’. Alternatively, an Indigenous person of prominence or an elder who has lived in the area and contributed to the Indigenous community may also be asked to acknowledge country if they are not in a position to welcome.

It is respectful for others speaking officially to also acknowledge country and custodians at the site of the event. The master of ceremonies could do this by making an introductory acknowledgment to the traditional owners

of the land.

9. Recognition and protection

The Indigenous visual artist owns copyright in his or her artwork. This means that he or she can control the reproduction and dissemination of the artwork. Such rights apply to all artists and are granted under the Copyright Act.

It is important to understand these laws and how cultural material might be protected under them. However, there are currently no special copyright laws dealing with Indigenous cultural material.

The Copyright Act has been criticised for not recognising the communal ownership of heritage material and the continuing right of heritage custodians to control use of this material. In 2004, the Attorney General drafted a proposal to amend the Copyright Act and introduce Indigenous communal moral rights. However, this is not yet law. Sally McCausland recommends that Indigenous custodians give express and clear notice of their interest to third parties.

Moral Rights & Issues

When reproducing artwork, remember that under the moral rights provisions of the Copyright Act, artists have the rights of integrity and attribution, and the right against false attribution.

The moral right of integrity means that the artist can take action against inappropriate treatment of their artwork. It is a good idea for artists to check design proofs of their work carefully prior to reproduction or publication.

The Moral Rights Amendments to the Copyright Act were introduced in December 2000 and provide some new ways to challenge inappropriate treatment of Indigenous artworks. These new laws provide the following rights to artists:

1. The right to be attributed as the artist – Artists can require their names be clearly and prominently reproduced alongside all reproductions of their works.

2. The right not to have work falsely attributed to another artist – Artists can take action against parties who falsely attribute others as the creators of their works.

3. The right of integrity – Artists can take action against parties who subject their works to inappropriate treatment. Inappropriate treatment includes:

• doing anything that results in the material distortion of, the destruction or mutilation of, or material alteration to, the work that causes harm to the artist’s reputation

• exhibition of the work in public in a manner or place that causes harm to the artist’s reputation.

Inappropriate treatment might also include cutting or destroying a physical artistic work or cropping a reproduction of it when reproducing it in a magazine, or reproducing it in poor quality.

Whether or not the work has been treated in an inappropriate way is subject to reasonable defence.

Native American Motifs

Clevleland Indians Baseball team

This is their current logo, It's bright and cheeky. With the big cheesy grin on the cartoons face. The feather is a major representation of the indians and their culture, easily referred to. It's working well because it is easily recognisable. It's balanced and stable, the use of thin and thicker lines create a sense of depth. The colour red representing the indians and could be received as racist because the colour of their skin. An even movement throughout the face and feather goes nicely together. Flat solid colour which doesn't give the design any depth of field or fore/back ground. Nice positive space around the the overall shape. The pallet is fierce and vibrant, which maybe their trying to perceive their team as being. The contrast of the red colour against the thick dark lines complement each other nicely. 

I think the design is successful in the sense that the design is easily recognised and stands for an Indian team, because the feather and Indians seem to have a smile all the time. I think there could be one more element to make it a little more interesting, although sports logos are very simple.