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INTRODUCTION
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art sector is vital to Australia in many ways.
It reinforces Australia’s identity as the place in the world with the longest continuing
human culture. It bears witness to continuing occupation of Australia by Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples and to the richness and diversity of their cultures. It shows
respect for the continuity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and the valuable
lessons that they have to convey to all people in the world. It also presents a distinctive
and dynamic art movement and is one of the major contributors to Australia’s creative
landscape.
While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have lived for thousands of years, and
museums have collected their artefacts for around 200 years, it is only more recently that
these cultural products have been displayed, talked about and marketed as art.
The 1980s and 1990s were boom years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in
Australia, with galleries and collectors investing in the art, and governments investing in
the Art Centres where much of the art is made. For various reasons that boom has passed,
and the sector needs to evaluate its circumstances.
This study examines Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, artists and art businesses
over the 20 years to 2013. The results give a broad and detailed picture of the sector,
enabling consideration and understanding of where it has been, where it is now and how it
might develop in the future.
The value chain study of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art sector was
undertaken over more than two years by researchers Dr Alice Woodhead and Tim Acker,
with the support of over 200 Art Centres, art businesses, individuals and funding
agencies that contributed data, time and ideas. The five reports of the value chain study
of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art sector highlight the opportunities and
challenges as well as the problems of remote area art production, sales and businesses.
These reports are
Synthesis, Methodology and Art regions, Art Centre finances, Artists
and Art Centre production
, and
Art business trading practices and policy views
. This
summary draws on the five reports to provide an accessible account of the changes and
challenges facing the sector.
GOALS OF THE
VALUE CHAIN STUDY
The value chain study aims to enable change by informing artists and art businesses
about the scope and scale of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art sector. It seeks to
understand the production and sale of visual art from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities in remote and very remote Australia and to provide insights into how the
industry can maintain a sustainable place in the lives of remote artists, their communities
and art businesses.
The study surveys data from Art Centres, government agencies and public and private art
businesses. It fills crucial gaps in our understanding of remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander art production to contribute to a better understanding of economic and commercial
issues for the art, the artists and their communities.
It increases awareness of the many different factors involved in art production and of the
interdependencies between artists, art businesses and audiences.
When artists, Art Centres, galleries and government know more about the links in their art
value chain, they will be better able to respond to changing circumstances.
Art production and art market trends
need to be better understood to enable
sustainable development of this
important industry.
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