The legislation, introduced in June this year, establishes the right for living visual artists to receive five percent of the sale price when works are resold through the art market for $1000 or more, for a period of 70 years after the work’s creation.

Mr Garrett has said the legislation recognises the value placed on Australian visual art, and the entitlement of artists to share in the profits of their works as they are traded and appreciate in value.  He also says the resale royalty is an acknowledgement that being an artist is a career, a profession from which a person earns their living; that art enriches our lives and that artists should be rewarded for their contribution to Australian life and for any ongoing increases in the value of their work.

Mr Garrett will be speaking at the ‘Australian Art Industry Networks: Artists, Agents, Markets and Museums’, at the University of Melbourne (Elisabeth Murdoch Building).  The conference is being held Thursday 15 – Friday 16 July, and is presented by the Initiative to Establish the Australian Institute of Art History, and the Art History Program at the University of Melbourne.

Other speakers include:
•    2010 Archibald and Wynne Prize winner Sam Leach, on the relationship between art prizes, media and long-term artistic value
•    Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) CEO Jim Alexander on how CAL will collect, administer and distribute the resale royalty within the arts community
•    Art Critic Andrew Frost on art prizes and their career benefits and drawbacks
•    Artist Azlan McLennan on a critique of the contemporary art market
•    Sotheby’s VC and National Head of Art Geoffrey Smith on fakes, forgeries, and provenance
•    University of Melbourne Art History Program’s Dr Christopher Marshall on the rise of the Australian Private Art Museum
•    Arts accountant Tom Lowenstein on the Cooper review and the state of the art industry
•    Art consultant to Charles Blackman Trust Walter Granek on the recent landmark Supreme Court ruling on art forgery and authenticity.

What:    

Federal Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garrett on The Aboriginal Visual Arts Industry and the Implementation of the Resale Royalty Legislation for the Australian Art Industry Networks: Artists, Agents, Markets and Museums conference.

When:   

Thursday 15 July at 10am (Minister Garrett’s address), Australian Art Industry Networks Symposium to run all day Thursday 15 July and Friday 16 July

Where:   

Elisabeth Murdoch Lecture Theatre, Elisabeth Murdoch Building, University of Melbourne Parkville Campus

More information: http://www.culture-commun...