Art dealer ‘exploiting’ indigenous painters in APY lands

Serious allegations of exploitation by a ‘carpetbagger’ of elderly and ill Aboriginal artists have been referred to police.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall. Picture: AAP

Serious allegations of exploitation by a “carpetbagger” of elderly and ill Aboriginal artists have been referred by South Australian Premier Steven Marshall to police and his Attorney-General.

The Premier’s office says it has been made aware of complaints of unethical practices against a well-known art dealer in Alice Springs, set out in a letter sent by the APY Art Centre Collective.

The letter is signed by several directors of the collective, which operates seven indigenous art centres across the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands near the state’s northern border.

The collective alleges that three Anangu artists from the APY lands have been “lured” into the dealer’s house to make paintings.

In a letter sent last week to Mr Marshall, federal Minister for ­Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, and federal Arts Minister Paul Fletcher, the collective alleges that the art dealer paid about $20,000 to one of the artists’ sons, who committed to repaying the loan by making his mother service the debt by painting for him.

Police visited the house but did not remove the artists, who were eventually persuaded by concerned relatives to return home.

The collective said the art dealer “has recently recommenced his operations in Alice Springs and is again targeting the APY lands’ highest profile and highest earning artists”, the letter alleges.

The letter, signed by collective directors Nyurpaya Kaika Burton and Tjunkaya Tapaya, states that “carpetbagging”, or exploiting of artists for non-indigenous dealers’ profit, has been an issue for their artists since 2005. They said the Indigenous Art Code, introduced after a 2007 Senate inquiry, “has not made an impact on this practice”.

“In a time of crisis, art centres have been unable to reach the one organisation that was set up to ­address the issue of carpet-bagging — this has to change,” the letter says.

The collective also criticises the “absolute lack of interest from Alice Springs police in regard to serious incidents of carpetbagging over the past few years”.

It calls for a tri-jurisdiction taskforce to be set up urgently to support better communications between police in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It also calls for better information for tourists, art lovers and collectors, and a list of ethical sources of indigenous art work.