State of the art
By Jason Smith,
We’re good at Hollywood blockbusters. But who watches our own films?
[METRICS]
Today’s art world is a complex one, where multiple copies are just a mouse click away. Bombarded by these clones, discerning art buyers crave originality and edginess. To meet this demand, programmes creating labels of authenticity and quality in indigenous art have emerged in Alaska, Australia and New Zealand. Differing widely, they balance concerns about artists’ rights and artistic quality.
The granddaddy of authenticity programmes is the Silver Hand Permit programme run by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Since 1998 it has been protecting the work of more than 1,000 native Alaskan artists while “guaranteeing the public that items bearing the Silver Hand identification seal were hand-crafted in Alaska by an Alaskan Eskimo, Aleut, or Indian craftsperson or artist and made wholly or in significant part of natural materials”. Authentic? Yes. Edgy? Possibly, but certainly on the safe side of the blade.
Emerging at the same time, the National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association (Australia) created its Label of Authenticity to mark the authentic work of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The association, which existed for advocacy, litigation and protection of the rights of indigenous artists, has since sunk under the weight of its own expectations. This kind of reactive approach to arts economic development has all the dull edge of a butter knife.
By contrast, Creative New Zealand and its Maori arts board, Te Waka Toi, have created a quality mark for Maori art. Since 2002 Toi Iho has been creating a space that’s authentic, contemporary and edgy as well. Like the Academy Awards, status is conferred by an artist’s peers. Maori silversmiths create alongside traditional weavers, clay workers alongside carvers, stained-glass window makers and stainless steel sculptors. How much edge do you want?
Unlike the other international labels of authenticity, the focus of Toi Iho is on quality—which is a direct route to sales and revenue from contemporary works. Showcasing a cornerstone of the country’s creative economy at work, it includes artists and, importantly, retail outlets. Make the link.
Australia’s failed Label of Authenticity was mainly concerned with advocacy and protecting artists’ rights
In 2006, Toi Iho artists were surveyed and 75 percent agreed that membership had been of economic benefit. The success of this economic development initiative has encouraged more artists and retail outlets to become Toi Iho-licensed artists, as the graph shows, and step up to the quality mark.
If you haven’t heard about this before, chances are increasing that you’ll come across Toi Iho art in New Zealand or something like it offshore. Recognition of this state-of-the-art model developed here by Te Waka Toi and Maori artists has prompted indigenous artists in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Hawaii and Canada to follow suit. Fiji is now in the final stages of launching its own label of authenticity—maybe just in time to catch the winter breaks of the edgy and brave.
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