ART.TRADE

The Board and broad Membership of The Australian Indigenous Art Trade Association (ART.TRADE) has been both a supporter and participant in the implementation of an Industry wide voluntary Code of Conduct. Indeed, ART.TRADE has amended its Constitution so that all current Members and future applicants must be signatories of the Code of Conduct.

After canvassing the ART.TRADE Membership base and after the ART.TRADE Board met to discuss the Code of Conduct (CoC) it is clear that whilst there is broad support for the proposed CoC and that many (though not all) of the original impediments have been addressed over the course of the Reference Group Meetings, there is strong concern regarding the structure and the perceived lack of accountability inherent in the proposed structure of the overseeing Compliance Committee.

The Senate Committee strongly and clearly recommended that any new CoC should encompass as many participants from within the Indigenous Fine Arts Industry as possible. It is our belief that the main impediment to the wide uptake of the Code would be the perception that the overseeing Compliance Committee could not only be subject to internal and external political agendas and influence as well as being open to professional and commercial rivalry.

Most (if not all) National Industries have an Industry Body that oversees implementation and compliance with the relevant Industry Code and Standards. The Industry Body is fully accountable to its Membership and to its Constitution. The Industry Body appoints committee members and addresses necessary changes and challenges that may arise within the Industry. The essential point is that it represents all facets of the Industry and its Membership without favour and that it must be fully accountable.

We believe that like all other National Industries, the Indigenous Fine Arts Industry needs to be represented by a fully inclusive National Industry Body that will have responsibility for the implementation and management of the Indigenous Fine Arts Industry and for monitoring and administrating compliance with regard to the CoC.

We strongly hold the view that any Compliance Committee cannot and should not operate in a vacuum and that the Compliance Committee should be an adjunct of (probably at arms length) and accountable to a National Industry Body. The main problem is either identifying a suitable vehicle to act as the Industry body or to establish an Industry wide body that is open to all sectors of the Industry.

Ideally, any Industry body needs to not only reflect the aims, ethics, experience, goals and ideals of the Industry, but to made up of all sectors of the Industry so as to better inform its direction and representative nature. Respected Bodies such the Australia Council and NAVA do not fit the bill nor should they be, as it is not necessarily possible or desirable for either organisation to be overseeing a voluntary Industry organisation.

Other successful and respected organisations such as Desart and ANKAAA by their very nature are effective representatives and advocates for their very specific parts of the Industry. The Australian Commercial Galley Association has an excellent Code of Ethics, but the majority of its members work outside the Indigenous Fine Arts Industry and again by its very nature is specifically an exhibiting Gallery representative organisation.

The Aboriginal arts industry is varied and complex and is comprised of Artists, Art Centres and other community support organizations, regionally specific advocacy bodies including Desart and ANKAAA, national arts advocacy bodies including NAVA and Viscopy, public art institutions and museums, Galleries (both online and bricks and mortar) private wholesalers, distributors and Agents and Representatives and a number of government and semi government bodies and bureaucracies involved in the arts, international tourism and trade.

The majority of the Industry hail from the private sector and whilst some operate in conjunction with Art Centre only suppliers, some operate with both Art Centre and private suppliers, some directly represent individual Artists and even whole Communities (where there is no Art Centre) and many Indigenous Artists operate their own business and promote their work either individually or in conjunction with their agents or representatives. In short, the Industry is very diverse in that it encompasses both the Government funded organisations as well as the private sector and individual Artists. The Senate Committee was very clear in its support for this multi tired model with all sectors having a strong role to play in the success and future of this vital Industry. Currently, the Indigenous Fine Arts Industry is easily the biggest source of private income in the remote Communities.

It is essential that any CoC is widely embraced by all sectors and individuals operating within the Industry. All Sectors need to have “ownership” of the aims and objectives of the CoC and the more signatories to the CoC, then the more people who will be bound by the Code. The Senate Committee recognised in its report findings that the CoC needed to be as all inclusive as possible if it was to be effective. It specifically recommended that ART.TRADE and the ACGA should be more inclusive and broaden their membership base and ease entry requirements specifically to provide education, regulation and compliance by as many operatives within the Industry as possible. ART.TRADE has already acted upon this advice and is already admitting and accepting a large number of new Members and applications.

Without Industry-wide take up of the Code, there will be no effective way of regulating the Industry (albeit voluntarily) and no way of stamping out bad practice by the minority.

Therefore I believe that there are only two feasible options to effect a sustainable National Body that in association with the ACCC can oversee and implement the CoC.

OPTION 1

SET UP A NEW INDIGENOUS FINE ARTS INDUSTRY BODY OR CORPORATION

This would entail starting from scratch and given some of the divisions within the Industry may well take an inordinate amount of time and resources to agree and implement.

Firstly, appropriate funding would need to be applied for and agreed. A National Conference would then need to be scheduled and set up which encompassed all sectors and individuals within the Indigenous Fine Arts Industry. A Constitution would need to be discussed, debated, agreed upon and implemented which enfranchised all within the Industry.

An important element of said Constitution would be the function of the CoC and ensuring that whilst it was independent, that it also needs to reflect the broad range of opinions and practises within such a diverse Industry.

However, the setting up of the CoC Committee and reporting lines of responsibility would only be one element of what could be complex discussions and legal responsibilities that would need to be undertaken in order to establish a truly representative National Body that could be embraced by the vast majority of people and organisations within the Industry.

Whilst this option has the benefit of being a completely clean slate, the short time frame available to set up and address, legalities, a new agreed Constitution and Industry wide agreement as well as appropriate funding mean that whilst it is feasibly possible, the time lines and constraints and uncertainty weigh heavily against it achieving any meaningful goals within the short to medium term.

OPTION 2

UTILISE THE ONLY ALREADY EXISTING NATIONAL BODY

There is already a National Body for ethical dealing in Indigenous Fine Art, ART.TRADE. ART.TRADE is the only Indigenous Fine Arts Industry National Body and organization in a position to bring retailers, galleries and wholesalers (which together comprise over 60% of the Industry), in to a system of industry voluntary self-regulation. The membership criteria in its constitution also enable it to enfranchise art centres, institutions and individual artists. From the moment of its genesis ART.TRADE was envisioned as a National body able to enfranchise every sector of the industry.

ART.TRADE’s constitution (SEE HERE) was developed by specialists in Art Law and was workshopped in regional meetings throughout Australia for a period of 8 months prior to the first national conference and AGM in 1998 in Alice Springs attended by more than 80 delegates that brought the organization in to being more than a decade ago.

Its code of business practice was ratified during the plenary session of both the 1st and 2nd National Indigenous Visual Arts Conferences (Cairns and Adelaide). Its current constitution would allow for members of all of the various industry sectors to become members immediately.

ART.TRADE is prepared to have both a Membership and Board spill and throw all positions open to the Industry as a whole in order to start with a clean slate to fulfil its originally envisaged all inclusive Industry wide role and Constitution. In addition Art.Trade has expressed a willingness to enter further discussions in relation to the makeup of its board. The board formerly constituted 7 elected members and up to 5 appointed members from outside the membership including 3 members of Aboriginal descent. In 2007 this was reduced to 4 elected and 3 appointed members.

The current board is willing to advocate an expansion in order to enable the appointment of key representatives from other industry bodies in order to reflect the range and diversity of the industry and make it possible to enforce the code of conduct. Potential board membership could include a representative from Desart, ANKAAA, ACGA, NAVA, OZCO, artist representative(s) etc.

ART.TRADE is a purely voluntary, non profit Industry body. Members have traditionally generously donated their time, expertise and resources to ensure the efficient running of the organisation. Whilst this will still be possible in the future, the larger size, complexity and also the new responsibility for the efficient maintenance of the CoC and the Compliance Committee would mean that Government funding above and beyond available Membership fees would be required to appoint full time admin officers to assist the Committee in its compliance role as well as expenses associated with the Committee and its investigations.

ART.TRADE also has had experience in investigating alleged possible breaches of its Code of Ethics and has found that its constitutionally created Indigenous only Investigation Committee (Indigenous Cultural Council) to be particularly effective in dealing with matters of cultural sensitivity as well as being extremely effective in gaining access to information unavailable to outsiders. Any culturally sensitive information remains within the Committee and the Indigenous Committee’s decision is binding on the Board. The Indigenous Committee’s expertise and experience would be strongly recommended to the CoC Compliance Committee as an effective and sensitive way of addressing culturally sensitive matters that fall within its jurisdiction.

SUMMARY

The ART.TRADE Board strongly supports and recommends the following with regard to the successful implementation of the CoC:

• The CoC Compliance Committee needs to be guided by and affiliated to a National Industry Body. This can be either a new Body set up for the purpose, or by utilising the ART.TRADE experience and structure already in place.
• The make up of the Compliance Committee needs to accurately reflect all sectors (especially Artists) of the Industry. It not only needs to be fully representative but also seen to be fair and even handed subject to the rules of Natural justice if it is to be effective in promoting and enforcing the new CoC.
• Adequate funding must be allocated by the Government to ensure the efficient and professional running of the CoC.

The Board of ART.TRADE is prepared to actively support and assist with the implementation of the new Code, but stresses the need for the Code to reside within a National Body if it is to be successful and embraced by the majority of our Industry. It is essential that the CoC be adopted by the vast majority of the Industry if bad practise is to be stamped out. The CoC can only work effectively if all sectors feel that they have ownership of the Industry, and this is backed up with Government support.

Ian Plunkett

ART.TRADE President on behalf of the Board and Membership