TribalArtisans procures artesanal works from hunter-gatherer tribes
StartupRealities No 128
TribalArtisans is a primitive art auction house which procures artesanal objects from hunter-gatherer societies and auctions them to museums, anthropology galleries and private collectors. The company obtains the majority of the handcrafted objects by seeding and growing an emergent cargo cult in tribes with little contact with the outside world.
MYTHOLOGY & EXCHANGE
TribalArtisans does not trade with tribes directly. Instead, company drones periodically deliver colourful glass objects, basic metal tools and simple colourful jewellery and deposit these manufactured goods in the roots of the oldest tree near the tribal village. When the tribe discovers these objects, the tree begins to acquire a supernatural status in their belief system and mythology and the tribe seniors and shamans often start making sacrificial gifts of their own artesanal tools and handcraft works to the tree. These gifts are picked up by drone at a time when the drone will not be seen. Thus, a cargo cult emerges and the tree becomes an implicit marketplace where the company acquires genuine handicraft objects.
ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
The company does not trade directly with uncontacted tribes as human contact can endanger the life and health of the few remaining hunter-gatherer societies by exposing them to disease and viruses common among the rest of humanity. For this reason, all manufactured goods are sanitised and drones are used for delivery (but never humans). In the beginning all trade is a "leap of faith" as the company makes the first step (often the first several steps) with a series of deliveries of small-value western products. If the tribe realises that these deliveries are merely an initial "taster" and starts responding with their own gifts of tools, wickerwork, baskets and works of tribal art, the exchanges of goods can become regular. If a tribe does not realise that the deliveries are only one half of an expected two-way exchange, then the company suspends the deliveries after three or four drone flights.
CEO QUOTE
"When you think about it, we don't just create value through idiosyncratic trade with the tribes of Polynesia, Amazonia and Central Africa. We make their lives more interesting and more colourful, while also helping the rest of humanity learn about them (and probably about our own more distant past). We never impose any terms to the exchange or ask for any particular objects. We gladly accept whatever the tribespeople are willing to share. We would only abandon an (attempted) exchange if there is no reciprocation after several rounds of gift-giving from our side." said TribalArtisans founder and CEO Trip Arthur.
TribalArtisans is a primitive art auction house which procures artesanal objects from hunter-gatherer societies and auctions them to museums, anthropology galleries and private collectors. The company obtains the majority of the handcrafted objects by seeding and growing an emergent cargo cult in tribes with little contact with the outside world.
MYTHOLOGY & EXCHANGE
TribalArtisans does not trade with tribes directly. Instead, company drones periodically deliver colourful glass objects, basic metal tools and simple colourful jewellery and deposit these manufactured goods in the roots of the oldest tree near the tribal village. When the tribe discovers these objects, the tree begins to acquire a supernatural status in their belief system and mythology and the tribe seniors and shamans often start making sacrificial gifts of their own artesanal tools and handcraft works to the tree. These gifts are picked up by drone at a time when the drone will not be seen. Thus, a cargo cult emerges and the tree becomes an implicit marketplace where the company acquires genuine handicraft objects.
ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
The company does not trade directly with uncontacted tribes as human contact can endanger the life and health of the few remaining hunter-gatherer societies by exposing them to disease and viruses common among the rest of humanity. For this reason, all manufactured goods are sanitised and drones are used for delivery (but never humans). In the beginning all trade is a "leap of faith" as the company makes the first step (often the first several steps) with a series of deliveries of small-value western products. If the tribe realises that these deliveries are merely an initial "taster" and starts responding with their own gifts of tools, wickerwork, baskets and works of tribal art, the exchanges of goods can become regular. If a tribe does not realise that the deliveries are only one half of an expected two-way exchange, then the company suspends the deliveries after three or four drone flights.
CEO QUOTE
"When you think about it, we don't just create value through idiosyncratic trade with the tribes of Polynesia, Amazonia and Central Africa. We make their lives more interesting and more colourful, while also helping the rest of humanity learn about them (and probably about our own more distant past). We never impose any terms to the exchange or ask for any particular objects. We gladly accept whatever the tribespeople are willing to share. We would only abandon an (attempted) exchange if there is no reciprocation after several rounds of gift-giving from our side." said TribalArtisans founder and CEO Trip Arthur.
 |
| Uncontacted tribe in the Brazilian Amazon (image source: Wikipedia) |
Comments
Post a Comment