Joyce Morgan from the Sydney Morning Herald talks to Ben Genocchio about his book, the Four Corner’s Programme Art for art’s sake and how to improve the Aboriginal art industry.
Mandatory regulation is essential if carpetbaggers, fakes and frauds are to be prevented from ruining the indigenous art industry, says a New York art critic, Ben Genocchio.
“The industry has had 25 years to self-regulate,” he says. “It’s done an atrocious job of it. Basically the only thing regulating the Aboriginal art market is the media in this country.”
Genocchio also talks about resale royalties.
But Genocchio does not believe the royalty will materially improve the financial position of most indigenous artists.
He says the evidence suggests that the financial benefits of such a scheme are concentrated in the hands of a few big name artists.
It is an argument rejected by the National Association for the Visual Arts, a long-time advocate of the scheme. But Genocchio acknowledges a moral imperative.
