Indigenous designers urged to protect their work
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, December 12, 2019.
The importance of protecting your intellectual property rights has been impressed upon Indigenous fashion designers at a three-day design workshop.
A fashion show featuring hand-painted garments, beads and feathers, brought the curtains down Thursday on the training hosted by the National Toshaos Council with support from the Canadian High Commission in Guyana.
Internationally-recognised Indigenous Canadian designer, Angela Demontigny, urged the local designers to protect their work from infringement. She said the hard work put into the pieces must be valued.
“Protect your art and your designs, intellectual property rights are very important. The work that you do has huge value; you are incorporating traditional knowledge from generations, your ancestors and your people and this knowledge must be continued with the next generation,” Demontigny declared.
Highlighting the importance of “visibility”, she said, “it means less exploitation and designers must present their work in a way that shows their value.”
Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs Hon. Valerie Garrido Lowe spoke of the advantages of information technology providing the designers with an avenue to advertise from their home villages.
She underscored the need to be attentive to the quality, attractiveness and price of their work to be successful.