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Press Release
Oct. 16, 2003 (Radio Actuality)
SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE LAUNCHES NEW NATIVE ART WEBSITE
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has launched a new website to promote Alaska Native art and to give more control of art sales to Native people.
The website, www.alaskanativeartists.com, is an outgrowth of the institute’s mission to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures, said Dr. Rosita Worl, president of SHI, a Native nonprofit.
But the site also was created in response to complaints from Native artists who say Alaska merchants are purchasing cheap replicas of Alaska Native art made by non-Native artists and refusing to buy more costly pieces made by Natives, said Worl, noting the replicas cost less because they are made overseas where labor is cheap.
“Native Artists are telling us some of the stores are no longer even buying their objects, and when stores do buy from artists, it’s at really reduced prices,” Worl said. “In our market, most of the money will go directly to the artists.”
Merchants are legally required to disclose to consumers whether Native art objects are made by non-Native artists, but Alaska journalists in 2000 documented numerous cases of vendors passing off non-Native art as Alaska Native work.[1]
“I would like to stress that we comply with the Native American Arts and Crafts Act in that all of the Native art sold through our website is made by Native people, and thus consumers can be assured that they are buying authentic Native art,” Worl said.
The site includes video and photo galleries of art plus biographies and photos of the artists. The website also will help educate the public about Native art and the intricate processes of creating the pieces.
SHI will photograph and videotape pieces brought by artists to its Juneau office and post the material online at no up-front cost. Artists outside Juneau also may e-mail or mail photos to the institute for posting online. If a piece were sold through the website, SHI would take 20 percent of the retail price to help cover its administrative costs. SHI plans to market the site and eventually establish its own Native hand program.
CONTACT: Dr. Rosita Worl, SHI president, 907-463-4844