A Trusted Standard
What the IartC does.
Indigenous Art Code Ltd (IartC) is the national organisation responsible for administering a voluntary industry code of conduct for art dealers and other entities who trade in or deal with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and their art.
IartC supports artists who contact them directly with issues or concerns about commercial dealings they have entered into or are considering entering into. We facilitate transparent communication between artists and member businesses, providing advice and, when required, referrals to other support organisations.
Through the Code Signatory membership process, IartC promotes best practice standards and behaviour change, strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts sector and helping to create a fairer market for artists to engage with.
IartC plays an advocacy role for our members, addressing the issues and challenges that impact them and the broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts sector. Key campaigns IartC has helped develop and champion include the Fake Art Harms Culture Campaign and Our Art is Our Lifeline, which responded to market fluctuations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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WHY BUYING ETHICAL ART IS IMPORTANT
In many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, art sales are the main source of income. Making sure you always buy ethically and authentically is not just about protecting the buyer’s investment, it’s about respect for the world’s oldest living culture, ensuring the artists and those around them are paid fairly and securing a sustainable future for Australia’s Indigenous art industry.
PROVENANCE
In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, provenance is crucial. The origin and history of ownership of a piece of Aboriginal art is both its birth certificate and passport; providing confidence of authenticity and evidence of ethical practices along the value chain.
The remote locations of many artists and art centres compound historical, political and social forces that have created a situation where the relationship between artist and buyer is fundamentally unequal. A moral compass and commitment to ethical trade by both buyers and sellers is the ‘finger on the scales’ that balance this inequity.
If buying Aboriginal art is stripped of these values, the relationship between artist and buyer is merely a financial transaction, devoid of connections to the artist’s heritage and cultural universe – for many, the very things that attracted them to Aboriginal art in the first place. An immutable reciprocity must connect the buyer’s and the artist’s interests to create an exchange that is both conscious and conscientious.
‘Doing the right thing’ also matters for legal and financial reasons. Unethical dealers often breach the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, taxation laws, Fair Trade and Code of Conduct regulations; legislation written and enforced to protect buyers and sellers of all goods and services. Turning a blind eye to unethical practices can make buyers complicit in breaking the law.
CERTIFICATION
Any piece of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art over A$250 that is bought from an art centre (or gallery that sources art from art centres) will come with an official art centre authentication certificate. If you’re a buyer, insist on it.
Under the Resale Royalty Scheme and Indigenous Art Code of Conduct these certificates provide buyers with high levels of confidence in both provenance and fair payment of the artist.
However, certificates can never be absolute guarantees. Some artworks where the artists have been badly treated or unfairly paid also have certificates.
Buying direct from art centres adds certainty, as art centres are legally-constituted, non-profit cooperatives, owned and run by the artists and their communities.
VISION
The fair and ethical treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual artists and universal respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture