Firstly, if you’re manufacturer or retailer looking to collaborate with Indigenous art centres to create products featuring Indigenous artwork and designs, it’s essential to approach the process with respect, transparency and cultural awareness. It’s important to respectfully accept if an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist or art centre may not want to collaborate or share their artwork.

Indigenous Art Centres are the heart of remote and regional communities, playing an important role in their economy, culture and social life. Each one is unique, shaped by the history and identity of its artists. Over the past 40 years, these centres have grown in response to increasing interest in Indigenous art and culture. More recently, global demand has risen, and despite facing daily challenges, the sector remains strong and resilient.

The art and design of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people both maintains and shares culture, and is a means of economic independence. Products that incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and design not only generate income but create a range of benefits for the artists, their art centres, families and communities, as well as for manufacturers and retailers of these products.

However, it is important to understand that not all art created in art centres is the same: while all Indigenous art is a unique expression of culture, some artworks tell personal stories, while others may express shared cultural meanings or content. Such works may therefore not be appropriate to reproduce on commercial products, and permission to do so may not be possible. Furthermore, there are strict cultural protocols around the names, images and artworks of Indigenous people who have passed away. An art centre will be able to help you understand and negotiate these and other cultural considerations to ensure that you can proceed confidently in collaborating with an Indigenous artist.

Understanding the challenges for art centres

Art centres face daily challenges that can make operations difficult. Some of the key issues include limited resources including staffing and materials, remote location, economic pressures, lack of access to technology, training and funding.

Art centres often serve as cultural hubs, balancing commercial success with cultural and community responsibilities such as preserving traditions and supporting artists.

Despite these challenges, art centres remain vital to communities, providing economic opportunities and preserving cultural heritage.

Please note that artists do not conform to standard business hours when working at art centres, and may only work with them for part of the year. Adequate time should be factored into any project to allow for this, and fast turnarounds for approvals and the signing of agreements are unlikely to be possible.

Licencing artwork

The basics

Many art centres are interested in working with businesses to reproduce artwork on products in an ethical and transparent way that supports their artists. This approach is consistent with the principles of the Indigenous Art Code and the Australia Council’s Protocols For Using First Nations Cultural And Intellectual Property In The Arts.

If you have obtained permissions to use an artist’s artworks on a product you will need to enter a written copyright licence with the art centre and artist, or the art centre’s copyright collecting organisation, on behalf of the artist.

These are some of the things that will be expected to see included in the licence agreement:

• Details of the exact use – art centres don’t grant licences for all purposes. You will need to specify the product type/s and volume/s you want to make.
• A specific timeframe – art centres don’t grant licences to use artwork in perpetuity.
• Payment of a royalty – usually by reference to the wholesale or retail price and the amount of product manufactured or sold (although art centres may consider licences for promotional merchandise or ‘giveaways’, in which case a different royalty will be agreed).
• Royalty reports and royalty payments on a montly basis.
• No cropping or changes to the colours or appearance of the artwork without the artist’s approval.
• Prototypes or samples must be provided to the art centre for artist approval before full scale production commences.
• Packaging and labelling needs to credit the artist and their community and acknowledge the cultural value of the artwork – usually by giving details of the artwork story.
• Mock-ups of packaging and labelling must be provided for artist approval.
• No blanket consent to the infringement of moral rights – see the Arts Law website for more information about moral rights.
• Free samples for the artist.

Next steps

If you can meet the requirements of a licensing agreement and want to proceed, you should contact the art centre and provide the following information:

• Your contact details.
• The artist or artwork you are interested in – if you know.
• The type/s of product you want to make.
• Details about your business – who you are and what you do – particularly information about other products you make and any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists with whom you have worked.
• The proposed royalty you can pay.