A message from APY Elders and directors of the APY Collective

Cultural Business.

Business for Our Communities.

Business for Our Children.

Business for Our Future.

The APY Art Movement began 70 years ago in Ernabella Community. Most of us Elders today have fond memories of making our first works in Ernabella when we were young. We knew early on that the art centres would be our chance to create jobs and opportunities in our community for ourselves and for future generations. We have grown our businesses with pride and with best practice industry ethics. Through our art centres we have worked tirelessly, establishing a reputation for artistic excellence and innovation. All artworks and projects are underpinned by our commitment to cultural protocol and our celebration and instruction of Tjukurpa, which is our Dreaming and Law.

We know the Indigenous art industry can be a tough space to navigate for collectors, art lovers, tourists and the general public. Sometimes people who want to make a well-intentioned contribution to social challenges in our communities look to the purchase of art as the vehicle of their contribution. Without access to reliable information about industry regulations and how the two prevalent business models function, sometimes these people have been disappointed, discovering too late that they have supported an unethical model. Here you can learn about the differences between the two business models and understand why buying artwork from art centres is the best way to guarantee you are supporting an ethical business that returns income to APY artists and the art centres we own – to the benefit of our families and the whole community.

Below are two prevalent organisational models under which Aboriginal Artwork is produced by remote Indigenous Artists.

If you would like to buy artwork produced under the art centre model explained below, you can:

- Buy directly from the APY Art Centre Collective's own gallery in Sydney or

- Buy from a 3rd party gallery providing the answer to the following question is yes......

Does the gallery have an exhibition or consignment relationship with an APY Lands art centre and has the work been sourced directly from that art centre?

To give you a head start, here are some of the galleries we admire for working with art centres exclusively when dealing in Aboriginal Artwork. We consider the following Australian galleries to be ethical galleries:

Aboriginal and Pacific Art, SYDNEY

Aboriginal Contemporary, SYDNEY

Alcaston Gallery, MELBOURNE

Vivien Anderson Gallery, MELBOURNE

Outstation Gallery, DARWIN

Paul Johnston Gallery, DARWIN

Short St Gallery, BROOME

RAFT Art Space, ALICE SPRINGS

Talapi, ALICE SPRINGS

APY ART CENTRE MODEL VERSUS PRIVATE DEALERS: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?