Central Land Council
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CLC Press Releases
- 14 Augyust 2008 2008
- Communities have their say on intervention ›› more
- 31 July 2008 2008
- Fairfax news in bad taste ›› more
- 24 July 2008 2008
- election: accountability needed ›› more
- 17 July 2008 2008
- Royal commission needed into NT funding ›› more
- 11 July 2008 2008
- Simpson Desert: the last land rights claim under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act ›› more
- 8 July 2008 2008
- Sacred site damage at Wilora ›› more
- 30 May 2008
- Seal the Mereenie Loop Road Now ›› more
- 27 May 2008
- Angela Pamela Negotiations ›› more
- 9 May 2008
- Angela Pamela and the native title process ›› more
- 18 February 2008
- Coalition should support permit system ›› more
- 15 February 2008
- Politicians threaten to derail fresh start ›› more
- 22 January 2008
- Police ignorance upsets Lajamanu community ›› more
- 26 November 2007
- Optimism for a fresh consensual approach on Aboriginal affairs ›› more
- 21 November 2007
- Concerns over Central Petroleum tactics ›› more
unscrupulous art dealers destroying aboriginal art market
29 November 2005
Central Land Council Director David Ross said today that the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Amanda Vanstone should be congratulated for her acknowledgement this week of Aboriginal art as " Australia 's greatest cultural gift to the world" .
"This is an extremely important statement on the contribution that Aboriginal people make to the cultural life of the nation," he said.
"Aboriginal art is a multi-million dollar testament to the preservation of Aboriginal culture and tradition through spiritual and physical connections to land," Mr Ross said.
"The Minister was also quite right to draw attention to the need for integrity in the Aboriginal art market.
"Unfortunately the popularity and high prices of Aboriginal art attract unscrupulous people who set up 'sweat shops' around Alice Springs and exploit poverty stricken Aboriginal people by various means," he said.
"These dealers are the beneficiaries of this exploitation and the CLC urges the Australian Taxation Office to investigate this enormous, undocumented cash economy.
"There are many cases of Aboriginal people unable to leave the premises until they have discharged 'debts' run up with these dealers by painting more and more pictures in an endless vicious circle. The longer they stay in town, the more debt they run up.
"Often the prices paid by these dealers are far below the proper value the painter should receive but it's instant cash and therefore attractive to people who are in a feast or famine cycle of poverty.
"Aboriginal people on dialysis are particularly vulnerable to these dealers. They have to be in town for treatment and are left with virtually no spending money after paying accommodation costs.
"Many of these people are from the Western Desert and their art is highly sought after.
"There is a practice of paying the families of well-known painters good money for low quality paintings in an effort to entice the famous painter into the circle. It appears to be a successful strategy as now many of the great names can be found in a hot tin shed in the back streets of Alice Springs producing canvasses of varying quality," Mr Ross said
Mr Ross warned the public that buying from unscrupulous dealers severely depreciates the value of their painting and perpetuates these iniquitous practices.
"Often the provenance of paintings from these sweatshops is extremely hard to verify.
"I advise people to stick to the reputable dealers, especially the cooperatives in Alice Springs where fair prices are paid to the painters," he said.
29 November 2005
contact: Jane Hodson 0417877579 0889516217
All CLC press releases are available on www.clc.org.au
Contact Jane Hodson 0417877579
contact: Jane Hodson 0417877579 0889516217