Since 2019 and The Oma misappropriation, TAEC has been active in the movement to recognise the rights of local communities over their cultural designs and heritage. In 2023, we opened the exhibition “Claiming Inspiration: Artisans, Culture, and Commercialisation” (now on display at TAEC), exploring the misappropriation of traditional design and the efforts to empower communities and foster ethical collaboration.
We will periodically update progress here and on social media, so please keep in touch!
2025 - 2026
ACTIVE: The Build Back Fund (BBF)
The World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Build Back Fund (BBF) supports projects strengthening cultural and economic resilience through the effective use of intellectual property. The fund focuses on communities that are often underserved by the IP system. In 2025, the BBF enabled the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (TAEC) to collaborate with the Lao Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) and the Phongsaly Provincial Department of Commerce and Industry to support the Oma people of Laos in assessing how contemporary IP tools could reflect their priorities and support the responsible use and recognition of their traditional designs.
Using participatory, community-led methods, the project explores a range of possible pathways — including, if the Oma choose, the development of a collective mark — to strengthen community-led management of their textile work and create opportunities for future collaboration.
Read on to find out more about this ongoing work and what has been achieved so far.
Final Collective Mark Meeting in Luang Prabang – DECEMBER 2025
Representatives from the Oma villages traveled to Luang Prabang for a meeting focused on the more formal and legal aspects of registering a collective trademark: reviewing how the governing body could be structured, fees, and enforcement mechanisms.
Discussions emphasised that a collective mark goes beyond a logo, a name, or legal registration – it is about establishing protections that genuinely reflect the priorities of the Oma community and how their textiles are made and recognised.
Return Trip to Oma Villages – NOVEMBER 2025
The team returned to all seven Oma villages, supporting community representatives to share the outcomes of the Boun Neua meeting with their neighbours. We helped facilitate discussions as villagers reviewed proposed decisions and logo options and voted on their preferences.
Bringing back specifics enabled everyone to better understand how the collective mark could work in practice, ensuring informed consent.
TAEC Reflection on the Boun Neua Consultation Meeting – NOVEMBER 2025
TAEC Co-Director Tara Gujadhur shared observations on the recent consultation in Boun Neua with representatives from all seven Oma villages, TAEC, DIP, and DIC on the potential development of an Oma collective mark. Her update outlines the practical realities – from language and travel barriers to the need for long-term community-led management – which affect how this process can move forward in a practical way. The full post is on LinkedIn.
Collective Mark Meeting in Boun Neua – NOVEMBER 2025
Representatives from all seven Oma villages gathered in Boun Neua with the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), and the Phongsaly Department of Commerce and Industry (DIC), to further explore the development of an Oma collective mark. TAEC facilitated practical sessions introducing key concepts, and developing consensus on goals, management mechanisms, and design and quality principles. A Lao-language overview from DIP was shared through their official social media.
Live Project Documentation on Instagram (SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2025)
Continuous, informal documentation of the village visits was shared by TAEC through Instagram Stories from the first day. This approach captured detailed timelines and project activities, supported transparent reporting, and enabled the public to follow the work step-by-step. All stories were archived for later viewing:
First instalment of project’s live stories – Second instalment of stories * You should be able to view the saved stories without an Instagram account, as long as you access them from a computer.
Consultation Visit to the Seven Oma Villages – SEPTEMBER 2025
A consultation visit to all seven Oma villages in Phongsaly Province was carried out by TAEC with the Department of Intellectual Property and the Provincial Department of Commerce and Industry. The visits opened discussions on crafts, cultural knowledge, and whether an Oma collective mark is a desirable way for their work and traditions to be recognised.
Expanded reflections and photos of this trip were shared on Facebook (#1, #2, and #3) and Instagram (#1, #2, and #3).
WIPO Project Visit – JUNE 2025
WIPO’s Traditional Knowledge Division visited TAEC for an in-situ visit under the Build Back Fund programme.
The visit advanced work with WIPO and the Lao Department of Intellectual Property to support communities in documenting, protecting, and promoting traditional knowledge. Details were shared on Facebook and LinkedIn.
CANCELLED: WEAVIT
The Women Entrepreneurs Achieving Viable IP Technologies (WEAVIT) project was a planned three-year, U.S.-funded initiative to strengthen protections for traditional designs in Laos through documentation, training, and legal recommendations. It was to be implemented by TAEC, the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), the Lao Handicraft Association (LHA), and CIPRI®. It was paused and later cancelled following a U.S. government funding freeze after the 2024 elections. Read our blog for details.
