Aboriginal Art - More Than Just Canvas and Colours, a Piece of Australian History
The best way to carry a piece of Australia with you back home when you go visiting to this fascinating country is to invest in some original Aboriginal Art, something that you will never find anywhere else in the world. However to make sure you carry home the original stuff only and not some cheap fakes you must shop from certified Aboriginal Art store. Here is a checklist for you to look into before you go shopping for Aboriginal Art.
To maintain the sanctity of this art and its artists, it is important that the art products are produced and sold in the most ethical manner. To ensure this the Australian government has laid down Code of Practice and Code of Conduct for galleries, retailers (both offline and online) and artists. To ensure that the shop you are purchasing from follows this rule you can either ask the staff there or look for certificate of subscription certifying they are following the code. Before buying the artwork from the gallery you need to know if it was actually produced by an indigenous artist. You can get to know of this by checking the artist's biographical details, whether he or she is indigenous, where they hail from and check for their signed name on the artwork. If you are buying an art piece that has been described as €certified€ check about the work certification, the certification is worth only if indigenous people are involved.
If you are buying any art product from the local souvenir shop ask where the product was made. One way to check legitimacy of the claim is to read the packaging or labelling. The attribute and license of the indigenous artist will be specified on the label. One way of ensuring you only buy indigenous Aboriginal Art is by asking if any indigenous organisation is involved in endorsing and managing the arts products and artworks. Some of these organisations work through a cooperative or a centre and will demonstrate the authenticity of the work with their own logos and labels.
Aboriginal Art, both traditional and contemporary are not just pieces of art. These are actually stories and symbols handed down for generations and contain sacred secret information. Aboriginal artists are not allowed to use stories, themes, styles or imagery from other region without the permission of the community and only a reputed and reliable Aboriginal Art store personnel would know these intricacies.
To maintain the sanctity of this art and its artists, it is important that the art products are produced and sold in the most ethical manner. To ensure this the Australian government has laid down Code of Practice and Code of Conduct for galleries, retailers (both offline and online) and artists. To ensure that the shop you are purchasing from follows this rule you can either ask the staff there or look for certificate of subscription certifying they are following the code. Before buying the artwork from the gallery you need to know if it was actually produced by an indigenous artist. You can get to know of this by checking the artist's biographical details, whether he or she is indigenous, where they hail from and check for their signed name on the artwork. If you are buying an art piece that has been described as €certified€ check about the work certification, the certification is worth only if indigenous people are involved.
If you are buying any art product from the local souvenir shop ask where the product was made. One way to check legitimacy of the claim is to read the packaging or labelling. The attribute and license of the indigenous artist will be specified on the label. One way of ensuring you only buy indigenous Aboriginal Art is by asking if any indigenous organisation is involved in endorsing and managing the arts products and artworks. Some of these organisations work through a cooperative or a centre and will demonstrate the authenticity of the work with their own logos and labels.
Aboriginal Art, both traditional and contemporary are not just pieces of art. These are actually stories and symbols handed down for generations and contain sacred secret information. Aboriginal artists are not allowed to use stories, themes, styles or imagery from other region without the permission of the community and only a reputed and reliable Aboriginal Art store personnel would know these intricacies.
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