Aboriginal art profits

Australian Aboriginal art is sold all over the world, sometimes fetching very high prices. Where go these huge profits from that artwork? Do Aboriginal artist receive their fair share? And what happens if the artwork is sold on?

Aboriginal art: Rich profits, poor artists

Each year Aboriginal art contributes $100 million to the Australian economy [3]. Aboriginal paintings fetch high prices at auctions.

Warlugulong by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was first bought by the Commonwealth Bank in 1977 for AUD 1,200. In 1996 the bank sold the painting for AUD 36,000. In July 2007 the National Gallery of Australia bought it at a Sotheby's auction for AUD 2.4 million [1], the highest price ever paid for an Aboriginal painting and an increase on the original price of 2,000%.

Similarly, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula's Water Dreaming was reportedly sold in 1973 for $150. In 2000 the painting changed hands for $486,500, a rise of 3,243% in 27 years.

However, many times these profits don't make their way back to the artist. Unscrupulous dealers pay artists with cars and illegal and prescription drugs to work in "sweatshops", trapping them in a cycle of poverty [9].

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Resale royalty schemes

To help artists earn at each resale of their artwork the French government in 1920 introduced a resale royalty, and resale rights have now been introduced right across the European Union [1].

In Australia the National Association for Visual Arts (NAVA) and Arts Law Centre of Australia lobbied successfully for the introduction of resale royalties which was approved by the federal government in 2008. On 1 July 2009 the royalty resale scheme was introduced which became law on 9 June 2010 [7]. Under the scheme 5% of the resale price is paid to artists if their work is sold for AUD 1,000 or more [6]. All Australian works under copyright will attract the resale royalty if sold after 9 June 2010, not just works created after the laws are passed [5]. The scheme applies to works by living artists and for a period of 70 years after an artist's death [6,7]. For works acquired befor 9 June 2010 the royalty will only be triggered on the second re-sale.

A non-profit organisation, Copyright Agency Ltd, manages the scheme and collects the royalties, distributing them after taking a 10% cut [7]. In the first year it generated $325,000 in royalties for 1,630 resales, and most recipients were Aboriginal artists [10].

Australian law entitles artists to copyright royalties but this concept still faces significant resistance from auction houses and galleries. In fact, some public galleries require artists to sign a copyright waiver before they accept their paintings for exhibition.

There are also concerns that the resale royalties help a minority of artists. Only two of the 20 top-selling Australian artists in 2006 and 2007 were Indigenous [4], and of the $4.97 million dollars in royalties which might have been collected in 2007 under such a scheme, only $774,432 would have gone to Indigenous artists. The maximum payout to a non-Indigenous artist would have been almost six times as much as to an Aboriginal artist.

Problems arise when the artist has died and there are many family members potentially entitles to receive the royalty. Aboriginal family lore does not accept royalty payments going only to the next of kin [7].

Another problem is how to get royalty cheques to people in remote communities who don't have phones or postal addresses.

For more information on the resale royalty scheme go to www.resaleroyalty.org.au.

When I paint I feel like I'm in the Dreamtime, and can see all the animals and birds... And it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble. —Trevor 'Turbo' Brown, Latji Latji man and Aboriginal artist [2]

Indigenous Art Code

In 2007 a Senate inquiry found that many Indigenous artists were working in squalor for minimal pay, drugs and second-hand cars [8]. As a consequence the Australian government launched the Indigenous Art Code in July 2010.

The voluntary code aims to end dodgy sales practices and will be administered by public company Indigenous Art Code Ltd.

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'Hope for artists', Koori Mail 417, p.26 [2] 'Artist's focus on Dreamtime animals', Koori Mail 422, p.51 [3] 'Caring for culture, Caring for country', NIT 10/7/2008 p.17 [4] NIT 30/10/2008 quoting The Australian [5] 'Govt announces resale scheme', NIT 16/10/2008 p.6 [6] 'New reale scheme is welcomed', Koori Mail 436 p.3 [7] 'Win for artists', Koori Mail 478 p.1 [8] 'Art code is launched', Koori Mail 481 p.17 [9] 'Art calls backed', Koori Mail 404 p.5 [10] 'New comic to assist artists', Koori Mail 506 p.56