iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

ididjaustralia · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 3:37 pm Post subject: avoid Wakoo Gallery in Manly, NSW

Wakoo Gallery in Manly, NSW, prides itself on being 100% Aboriginal-owned which is enough reason to support it. But take a closer look and alarm bells start ringing...

Take a look at the pics below.

The first pic shows very clearly that the business is 100 % Aboriginal-owned. The retail shop is situated smack bang in the middle of a popular tourist precint, so no doubt there will be a lot of passing trade and a lot of sympathetic consumers who want to do the right thing and support an Aboriginal business.

The 2nd pic shows didgeridoos by the doorway enticing customers to enter the shop.

The 3rd pic is of these didgeridoos by the doorway. The instruments are made from Teak wood and imported from Bali. Most of the instruments in the shop are of the same source and origin, with a smattering of Queensland bloodwood instruments.

The 4th pic shows a close-up of the swing tag on all the didgeridoos found in the shop. There are 2 misleading, inaccurate and false claims on the swing tag because the instruments are NOT termite-hollowed and they are NOT eucalyptus. I doubt the artwork was done by an Indigenous artist either.

This is a clear breach of the Trade Practices Act and as such is punishable under Australian law.

I'm not out to shut down an Aboriginal-owned business but must warn consumers that a retail outlet like this preys on naive consumers who do not know any better and would be happy to spend their money at a place like this. This false and misleading representation of didgeridoos is as bad as I've ever seen.

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kdidj · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 255

Not good!

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itsadidj · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 38 Location: New York

.............but they look so pretty! Confused

the truth must be told.................

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Josh Staley · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 30 Location: Portland OR

I guess you know the wood well enough to tell teak from eucalyptus Guan, but honestly I would be fooled by that labeling. A tourist doesn't stand a chance of telling the difference. The art-work on them is quite nice and I would imagine very eye-catching to tourists interested in a decoration piece. Its just down right fraud, they probably get the teak pieces for very cheap and sell them at eucalyptus prices and make a huge mark-up.

Something should be done, perhaps since its not desired to ruin the shop, a letter from ididj or perhaps some other organizations could be sent to the shop letting them know they have been found out and are being given a fair chance to change there ways or face possible legal consequences.

flyangler18 · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 394

Tourist tat, through and through....definitely not good!

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bindi · Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 5:01 pm Post subject:

So sad.

I had to edit my post as what I thought was fixed [I am told] may not be fully resolved.
And it has nothing to do with the above store in NSW but one in SE Qld.

Confused

ididjaustralia · Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 1:47 pm Post subject:

Josh Staley wrote:

I guess you know the wood well enough to tell teak from eucalyptus Guan, but honestly I would be fooled by that labeling. A tourist doesn't stand a chance of telling the difference. The art-work on them is quite nice and I would imagine very eye-catching to tourists interested in a decoration piece. Its just down right fraud, they probably get the teak pieces for very cheap and sell them at eucalyptus prices and make a huge mark-up.

The instruments are teak no questions, and have been clearly drilled out. The deception goes further because some sort of muck has been put into the bores of some of these sticks, to make them look like authentic termite-eaten eucalyptus. If you put your finger into the bell end and scratch the surface of the inside, your fingernail will peel off a gluey substance mixed with ash or dirt or something similar. Underneath that is the raw wood which is beyond a shadown of a doubt artificially hollowed out.

This sort of business does not benefit anyone except for the shop owner. Ed can tell you something of the practice in Bali where these instruments are made... he has been there and observed first-hand.

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mahoran · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 137 Location: Gent, Belgium

thats terrible
.tagged with the Aboriginal flag. What do you make of the tiny one. Suppose made so little to fit in your back bag Smile

They are lying looking straight into your eyes. Terrible. If the address of these kind of shops can be made known, I am happy to send a letter all the way from Belgium to protest. I am sure many can join..

M

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