Mirror Site Needed For Trophies of Honor - Art Chronicles of
Indigenous Peoples
Recently I have become aware of native heritage and through my
wife have become involved in a project hosted on the Internet by
Griffith University - Australia that features 75 indigenous artists
and 500 pieces of museum quality art from North America,
Hawaii, and the South Pacific. The goal of this project was two
fold: 1) to give indigenous artists a venue for showing their work
to a vast audience through high technology and 2) to develop an
economic engine which would drive the sale of indigenous art.
We have been able to provide a high tech venue in "Trophies of
Honor - Art Chronicles of Indigenous Peoples" on the Internet.
This project is a museum with no commercial aspects. We present
the art and the comments of the artists without interpretation or
evaluation as to social value. The only requirement for an
indigenous artist to have his/her works displayed in "Trophies of
Honor" is the work be of museum quality.
We are in the process of developing an economic engine called
Northwest Passages. However, it is my wife's expertise in art and
mine in marketing that controls this engine. What is really need is
a economic paradigm that develops for indigenous artists a set of
techniques and tools that allow them to utilize traditional and new
channels of moving goods through the market place.
This project needs to be interdisciplinary in that the area skills
needed to develop a working model of a marketing system come
from various disciplines that normally do not interface. Cultural
anthropology and marketing do not often cross reference each
other, however these disciplines have the necessary bodies of
knowledge and tools to develop a marketing model for indigenous
art. However statements from the artist regarding their art are
provide to give a frame of reference to the
social/economic/philosophical beliefs of the artist.
My premise is that individuals whose primary paradigm is based
on the traditional values of indigenous cultures do not have the
proper frame of reference to compete in the current art marketing
system. While a few have been successful, the majority of
indigenous artist fail to successfully market their works at a level
that would generate enough funds for an above-poverty line
income.
Indigenous art is more than art, it is the culture of the people. One
mechanism for fostering both economic development and
continuation of the cultural heritage is to provide a model whereby
the indigenous artists can sustain themselves and continue their
art. Perhaps in the ultimate paradox, it seems that many First
Nations and members of the First Nations have adopted the "Net" as
their national and trans-national communication device.
Trophies of Honor is currently under testing at Griffith to insure
that all 190 pages of HTML work. If you or any other member of
the department has an interest in this area, please E-Mail at
artwork1@ix.netcom.com or call 503-665-1965 as you can see the
project while it is being debugged. If you see the project and
determine, and think that the department would like to sponsor this
project as a mirror site we can provide the project (it is 30 megs)
on a QIC 80 tape or FTP it to you.
Jeff Lee
"If I See Farther Than Others, It Is Because I Stand On The
Shoulders OF Giants"