Part 1 - The Discovery

How would you feel if you saw an artwork and realised that it was lifted from you? Last week, I was invited to an event to conduct an activity for a government organisation and was very happy to be a part of it. We did the activity with the staff of the organisation and had a lot of fun interacting with everyone at our activity booth. But as I was leaving, I noticed an artwork behind a partially frosted door, an art installation that left me speechless. It wasn’t because it was eye-catching or shiny, it was because the design was so similar to something I proposed 10months ago to this same government organisation. At the time, I had my doubts and took a photo of it so I could go home and compare it to the proposal I sent previously. The ride home was unnerving and I bolted though the door just to get to my computer and open the document.

Lo and behold, the design was lifted to almost 80% from my proposal. I had to do a double take and side by side comparison to confirm it. I felt sick to my stomach.  Although the overall shape of the artwork wasn’t the same but the font, colour and composition was uncanny. I was shocked, my heart pounded as my mind raced as I thought about what my next steps were.