Australian Indigenous Art Code Protecting Buyers and Artists

Categories: Australia

Both art investors and artists benefit from the newly-released Indigenous Australian Art Commercial Code of Conduct, designed to stamp out shysters.

There's a new question both investors in Indigenous art and Indigenous artists themselves now can ask of art dealers and galleries: are they signatories to the Indigenous Australian Art Commercial Code of Conduct?

The code, rolled out in March 2010, is a significant outcome to flow from a federal Senate Inquiry into the future of Indigenous art and craft in Australia.

The inquiry, which wrapped up in 2007, heard that Indigenous Australian art, which had previously been of anthropological curiosity, was under pressure as a 'hot' art commodity and that unethical business practices -- including a flooding of the market with second-rate art of questionable origin and underpayment of authentic artists -- risked its future sustainability.

A raft of recommendations was made including funding support, training and government-backed exposure of the art movement internationally.

Who the Indigenous Australian Art Code Affects

The Indigenous Australian Art Commercial Code of Conduct provides the first national set of standards for transactions between agents, artists and dealers in the Indigenous visual art industry.

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