Joining the Dots: The Sustainability of the Aboriginal Art Market
Joining the Dots: The Sustainability of the Aboriginal Art Market Report
Art matters - Untangling the awkward relationship between art and money
- Author(s): Wilson-Anastasios, Meaghan
- Secondary Author(s): Wilson-Anastasios, Meaghan
- Published: 2010
- Volume: 2010
Abstract: Sotheby’s estimates between fifty and seventy percent of the Aboriginal art it sells at auction is bought by international collectors. How do those buyers view their acquistions? On the Sotheby’s website, you will not find Aboriginal art listed with ‘Australian’ and ‘Contemporary Art’ under the ‘Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture’ department. Rather, it is classified as one of the ‘Ancient and Ethnographic Arts’, alongside ‘Antiquities’ and ‘Pre-Columbian Art’. This paper will show that the promotion and perception of Aboriginal art as ethnographic rather than contemporary in nature is but one of a number of important aspects of the market that have implications for the industry’s long-term sustainability. This distinction has a significant effect on the way Aboriginal art is distributed, promoted and received by buyers and sellers. Collectors measure the value of ethnographic material by assessing its proximity to a culturally immaculate source. An object has the greatest ethnographic integrity if it emanates from a primitive, isolated community.
- Urls: http://wilsonanastasios.com/2010/07/08/joining-the-dots-the-sustainability-of-the-aboriginal-art-market/
- Publisher Location: Melbourne