Designing a way to be ethical

land and Territory.

Today, Mainie is now available not only from our own retail store in Cairns Central, but also at over 40 stockists across Queensland and interstate.

We are still growing but by the end of this year, we expect to double our number of national stockists and implement plans to begin our first international market trials.

It’s been a hard slog since 2015 and even though we are still some way from our ultimate goal to become an internationally recognised, iconic Australian brand, we feel very encouraged knowing we have already contributed so much towards creating much needed employment and business development opportunities for Aboriginal women in isolated communities across Australia.

Mainie directly invests in Aboriginal communities in a number of ways.

All of our designs are based on original artworks acquired from Aboriginal-owned arts centres which are located on the traditional homelands of the artists.

This ensures there is an unbroken connection between the Aboriginal artists and the age-old Dreamtime designs, which were first depicted tens of thousands of years ago by their ancestors and then passed down uninterrupted to each ensuing generation over the millennia. the Northern

Every painting purchased by Mainie is reproduced under licence in accordance with the Indigenous Art Code, whereby the Aboriginal artist retains the copyright to their original artwork in perpetuity.

We do not use any designs without the consent and approval of the Aboriginal artists.

Mainie now pays tens of thousands of dollars every year through our purchases of original artworks, licence fees and ongoing royalties on sales to Aboriginal artists in remote communities where there are limited opportunities for real employment or business development.

We know this money stays in the community and helps to create financial independence for the artists and their families.

Mainie embraces Fair Trade ethics and is committed to supporting Aboriginal artists to independently earn an income from their own work and to preserve their traditional arts heritage. Charmaine Saunders is managing director of Mainie

Picture: STEWART McLEAN MATERIAL BENEFITS: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop inspects scarfs with Denis Keeffe from Mainie at a Cairns tourism and trade expo in 2017 – Mainie uses authentic Aboriginal designs with luxurious silk.

VIBRANT: NAIDOC Artist of the Year Elverina Johnson’s designs for Mainie.