Data Colonialism and Indigenous Art: Why the World Needs a Centralized International Database

AI now is efficient and can do multiple creative works that were earlier only possible by creative humans such poetry, music, story writing and the most popular Painting as we have seen during the infamous Ghibli trend in Instagram, where AI turned ordinary pictures into beautiful hand-drawn art. But what happens when these creative works are not just inspired by modern artists, but are trained on centuries-old indigenous artworks? Indigenous art forms like Aboriginal dot paintings, Native American beadwork, or Warli designs are not just only visual styles. They are cultural identities, shaped by generations of storytelling, rituals, and history. But current intellectual property laws don’t fully protect them. Copyright focuses on individual creators. Geographical Indications protect products, not patterns. While countries like Peru and Panama have tried to safeguard cultural expressions, there is no such strong international system that stops AI models from using these styles without asking or sharing benefits. This paper tries to present a solution by creating a centralized global database of indigenous art and AI companies should be required to consult this database before using cultural works in training their models. More importantly, indigenous communities must have control, consent, and a share of the benefits. Without this, intellectual property law will continue to favour those with power and leave behind those whose creativity built entire cultural traditions.