Abstract
This paper arises from my research on the fine art market for visual artworks by community-based artists and Cairns-based artists in Far North Queensland, and on the role of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). While there is a vast body of knowledge and research on Australian Indigenous art there has been limited research into the Indigenous art of Far North Queensland, particularly that of ‘fine art’. My research is anexamination of how the participants’ intercultural relationships can affect their collaboration and interdependency with other players in the art network. Taking a casestudy approach, or what might be termed micro-ethnography, my research has involved interviewing artists, arts coordinators, commercial and public gallerists and buyers. I haveexamined the role of intercultural exchange in these relationships. In this article, I concentrate on a few questions that relate to aspects of intercultural exchange from the points-of-view of the artists, with a few additional comments from art coordinators.
Highlights
This paper arises from my research on the fine art market for visual artworks by community-based artists and Cairns-based artists in Far North Queensland, and on the role of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF)
In the first section of this article, a brief overview will be presented of the recent emergence of Indigenous fine art in Far North Queensland, and of the role of CIAF, and how it enables a collective voice in what can be described as an emerging regional art formation in Far North Queensland
I relay some comments from my interviews with community-based artists and Cairns-based artists concerning their views of the fine art industry, and of the relationships entailed in bringing artworks to an art market
Summary
The development of Indigenous art in the region has not happened in a vacuum. It has taken many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to see that the artists find a place and a voice during their careers. The Cairns-based artists are more informed and knowledgeable about the art network because they engage directly with galleries and are responsible for managing their own business as a sole trader Their intercultural exchange with gallerists is paramount because trust must go both ways to see that art is produced and delivered on time, at the highest quality and sold ethically with monies returned promptly. For one community-based artist the choice of being known as ‘artist’ is more telling of how far his/her confidence and ability has progressed in light of historical events that excluded Indigenous people from much of mainstream society This is agency at work because the artists are making decision to suit them rather than being categorised by art ‘experts’. For an Indigenous artist to compete in the mainstream art world, without the ‘label’ of Indigenous or Aboriginal is brave because it is the cultural content bound up with identity and antiquity than is the selling point
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