Aboriginal-style artifacts currently being promoted to retailers in Australia, namely boomerangs painted with designs in what clearly appears to be an Australian Aboriginal art style, are made by a Balinese craftsman in Bali.
In an email received by Australia Gift Shop last Friday, the 19th of February, the boomerangs were being offered to our shop by someone who presents herself/himself as an Australian person who is assisting his or her Balinese friend in promoting his Indonesian business as a manufacturer of Aboriginal art styled boomerangs in Bali, Indonesia.
It is obvious that the boomerangs are NEITHER created in Australia NOR painted by Aboriginal artists. Australia Gift Shop has never and would never deal in such artifacts and unequivocally and officially states that it is definitely NOT Australian Aboriginal art.
The sender of the email mentions what is purportedly her name, Mary ------, as well as the name of her Balinese friend, Benjo -------.
“Mary” states: “Benjo has sent me an email asking for assistance as he has not had any work orders for 3 months and this is putting his business under financial pressure.”
The email was sent from an Australian ISP email address and according to IP addresses, appears to have been sent from Perth (through an ISP in Perth), then via a reseller ISP in Melbourne.
Australia Gift Shop receives email offers similar to the abovementioned one on an almost weekly basis from suppliers of dodgy Aboriginal-style art made in South-East Asia.
This practice is a serious threat to the Australian Aboriginal art market because of the extremely low prices offered by the suppliers. In fact, 12-inch hand-painted boomerangs are priced below one dollar ( both Australian and American dollars ) and 20-inch ones are priced under two dollars. Prices are listed in the email and an image of five of the authentic-looking fake Aboriginal art boomerangs is attached to the email.
Customers can either place an order through our online shopping cart or order and pay over the phone with their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card.Those in the latter group of customers usually phone us while they are browsing our online shop. This allows for instant answers to queries about our products that they are viewing in the online shop product displays. To cater to customers who prefer not to use their credit card, debit card or an online PayPal account, we provide the option of paying by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (usually within Australia only).
- Online shopping adventures at Australia Gift Shop begin at www.australiagift.net/australia [ with all prices marked and products purchased in Australian dollars ]. You will discover an extensive range of bright and colourful hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts, Australian Aboriginal art products, Australiana gifts and iconic Aussie souvenirs to purchase from. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]
- Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)
- Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)
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