Federal and South Australian governments say they will urgently investigate claims of ‘unscrupulous’ practices by art dealer

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

The federal and South Australian governments have demanded an urgent investigation into claims that unscrupulous private art dealers are exploiting frail and elderly Aboriginal artists in central Australia.

At least three artists have been taken from their remote central Australian communities by a private art dealer who is forcing at least one of them to pay off debts of tens of thousands of dollars by producing new paintings, a leading Aboriginal art centre has alleged.

In a letter obtained by the Guardian, the award-winning APY Artists collective from central Australia has spoken out about “damaging, dangerous, unscrupulous” practices it says are happening in Alice Springs.

The collective wrote to the federal minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, and the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, pleading for help to stamp out exploitative practices known as carpetbagging, which have plagued the Aboriginal art industry for decades but are re-emerging as desert artists enjoy a new wave of artistic and financial success.

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Marshall’s office confirmed he had received the letter and said he was “very concerned of the potential for artists on the [Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara] lands to be exploited in this way.”

Police and the attorney general had been made aware of the allegations raised in the letter, an SA government spokesman said.

“The South Australian government is acutely aware of such unethical practices, and wants to play a key role in preventing Aboriginal artists being exploited,” the spokesman said.

Marshall raised unethical practices associated with Aboriginal arts at a meeting with federal, state and territory cultural ministers in Adelaide last month.

Marshall has directed Arts SA to convene a meeting to further explore potential solutions to these unethical practices, the government spokesman said.

The APY artists’ collective alleged that the dealer had at least three high-profile artists painting for him at a property in Alice Springs. All three had major health challenges, the letter said: one has an acquired brain injury, another has chronic asthma and the third is deaf. One of these artists, it is alleged, is acclaimed painter Yaritji Young, whose works can sell for as much as $45,000.

According to the letter, Young was told she had to make paintings to service a $20,000 debt to the dealer, apparently accrued by her son.

“This is common practice often used by unscrupulous private dealers, locking family members of high-profile artists into a debt, ensuring that the family member [of] the artist has no alternative but to paint their way out of the debt,” the letter said.

“The family members that have been approached … are all compromised by their own challenges, which include substance abuse, health issues and family obligations.”

The carpetbaggers, usually non-Indigenous men, are well-known to locals and operate openly in central Australia.

Former and current APY staff said they had received death threats and experienced intimidatory behaviour. They said old people had been taken from their communities and set up at private studios to paint for days, cut off from their families. They had missed dialysis and other medical appointments, the staff said. Payments were offered for signing blank canvases, or posing for a photo next to an already completed artwork, they alleged.

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The APY collective has engaged the law firm Minter Ellison to issue a “cease and desist” notice to the dealer, who it claimed might be breaching a contractual obligation the desert artists have to their APY art centres.

“We have worked so hard to earn our current position of prestige and to earn our reputation of artistic excellence,” the letter said.

“Our art centres are creating meaningful employment for our family members and are the only source of non-government income in our communities. We will do what is required to protect our art centres but at the moment we are sitting ducks, and are going it alone.

“We need government support to stop this insidious behaviour by money-hungry self-interested private dealers.”

The letter was signed by 69 prominent artists from across the APY lands.

The collective wants greater legal protections for Aboriginal artists and art centres. It said the way private dealers commissioned and acquired artworks must be more transparent “so consumers can make informed decisions”.

It also asked for greater police support to help ensure the safety of elderly and vulnerable artists, some of whom require regular medical treatment.

“APY art centres … are currently working with lawyers and the police to ensure the safe and timely return to community of all artists who are currently working” for the Alice Springs dealer, the letter said.

NT Police said they conducted a welfare check on a woman in Alice Springs, following information received from SA police, and found her “safe and well”.

Police “determined the incident is not as initially reported and no criminal offences have occurred”, NT Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Malley said.

Wyatt told Guardian Australia he was “deeply concerned about reports regarding ‘carpetbagging’ in Alice Springs and South Australia”, and had asked the National Indigenous Australians Agency “to look into this matter and provide me with an urgent update”.

“This is a very serious matter, and I welcome Premier Steven Marshall’s decision to refer the matter to the South Australian attorney general and South Australian police,” Wyatt said.

“Indigenous art is an extremely important market for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and they should be able to practice their art free from any interference or exploitation.”