IartC acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to the land, waters and skies, often expressed through art.

Buying Art Ethically

A customer buying art at Aboriginal Art Co in Meanjin (Brisbane). ©Aboriginal Art Co/Indigenous Art Code 2023.

Buying Art Ethically

When buying art, we urge you to buy what you love and to make sure artists are treated fairly in the process.

The commercial arrangements dealers have with artists need to be more than extractive or transactional. Arrangements should be respectful, meaningful, transparent and fair.

Buying and selling art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists ethically is about ensuring artists are treated and paid fairly. Artists and their culture should be respected, and all dealings should be transparent and provide meaningful benefit.

You have an important role to play

You have an important role to play

Buyers can and should play a part in ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists get a fair go.

The Indigenous Art Code encourages buyers to take an active and engaged role in ensuring the artwork they purchase comes from ethical sources and that artists are paid and treated fairly by those that trade in their work.

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Indigenous Art Code Chair, Stephanie Parkin, discusses the part consumers have to play in ensuring artists are treated fairly and ethically. Film by ZakPage. © Indigenous Art Code.

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Seven Stories About You

Seven Stories About You

Seven Stories About You

“Purchasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art can be intensely rewarding, you feel connected to this country, to the landscape, to the oldest living culture on Earth. Buying art can also seem to be a minefield of potential ethical issues to the uninitiated, it’s important to know we have had no part in the exploitation of Aboriginal artists.”

- Claire G. Coleman

In 2020, the Indigenous Art Code commissioned Noongar writer and arts advocate Claire G. Coleman to write an essay exploring the nuances of the Indigenous visual art market, looking at the various ways art travels from artist to consumer.

Seven Stories about You speaks directly to the consumer, asking you to consider the role you have to play in ensuring artists get a fair go and are able to maintain agency in their arts practice and commercial arrangements. Like much of Coleman’s writing, she also asks the reader to consider Australia’s history, ongoing colonisation and the resulting power imbalances that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Questions frequently asked by consumers

What are some of the different supply chains operating in the market for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art?
Why is the Indigenous Art Code in place and how does it support artists?
How can I be sure I’m purchasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ethically?
What is a certificate of authenticity?

Story of impact: Mick Harding

Story of impact: Mick Harding

Mick Harding Portrait Image Alperstein Designs

Michael Harding, Ngarga Warendj Dancing Wombat ceramics. © Michael Harding/Copyright Agency, 2022. Photo: Alperstein Designs. 

Belonging to the Yowong-Illam-Baluk and Nattarak Baluk clans of the Taungurung people, Mick Harding is an artist specialising in wood working, printmaking and giftware. His company, Ngarga Warendj Dancing Wombat, is known for its high-quality products that are produced by the artist or through transparent licensing agreements with third parties.

Harding emphasises the importance of his artmaking as a way to be both culturally and financially independent. His art is also for his children and community and says that buying genuine products from Indigenous artists ‘puts money into our pockets and into our communities. We are closing the gap ourselves.’

Mick Harding Portrait Image Alperstein Designs

Michael Harding, Ngarga Warendj Dancing Wombat ceramics. © Michael Harding/Copyright Agency, 2022. Photo: Alperstein Designs. 

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