Aboriginal Motifs

– Aboriginal Motifs –

The Visual Arts & Protocol Guide, gives a list of 12 different principles, with protocols that need to be followed to incorporate aboriginal heritage in your artwork.
Two of those being respect and attribution & copyright.

Respect 
When coming up with any designs that are linked to, or reference aboriginal culture and heritage you have to keep in mind that Indigenous Australians, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, are the original inhabitants of Australia, and you must respect that. 
When creating artwork, the land must be acknowledged. So for example if you were designing a football logo, or an aboriginal community based football team, you would have to acknowledge who owned the land that their home ground was on, and incorporate that into your design. 
You would also seek approval from someone in the indigenous community, related to public art based projects. 

Attribution & Copyright 
Although there is no law, it is highly recommended that when using a piece of information, whether it be a an indigenous saying or motif, that the language group relevant should be acknowledged and mentioned as a part of the design.
Also attributing the source of which you gained a certain cultural image, in each and every publication that the artwork is used in. 


– Moral Rights & Issues –

Some moral rights and issues to be aware of when creating these designs, as stipulated in the protocol guide, are as follows.
• Attribute the artist - the original artists can ask for their names to be clearly displayed on all artworks that are in reference to it, and any reproductions of that artwork.
• No false or misleading attribution - Original artists have the right to take action if their work has been attributed to the wrong person
• Treating the artwork properly - Ways in which the use of artwork can be mistreated is by distorting, destructing or mutilating the artwork itself, or in such a way that it causes harm to the reputation of the original artist.
• Exhibiting the work in a certain way, or certain place that would cause harm to the original artists reputation.