Trans-Pacific collecting rises in the global marketplace
The breaking down of national barriers is giving rise to new cross-cultural collecting habits, a hot topic at Art Basel HK. As well as being market…
Boycott call prompts questions about self-publishing
Art dealer Beverly Knight has called for a boycott of a monograph by collector Pat Corrigan. We investigate the line between vanity driven publishing and the…
Crowdfunding acquisitions: the next fundraising trend
Our museums use social media to stimulate audiences, so why not use technology’s reach to grow their collections? Institutions have always “crowdfunded” acquisitions in that a…
What is a VIP pass really worth?
Are VIP passes just for massaging the egos of the “celebarati” or do they serve a valuable role in the success of an art fair? In…
Smashing the glass ceiling, or not?
The top chairs are not reserved exclusively by men – though the numbers remain out of kilter – exposure helps a shift in attitude. Sunday 8…
From Mona to Archie – the cult of the portrait
When is the line for a portrait more about cult tourism than the art on display? It is said that visitors spend on average of about…
Too dangerous for the museum
Museums can be safe places for unsafe topics but a leading museum director argues there is a point when ideas become too dangerous for museums to…
Corporate sponsorship: vanity or sanity?
Disruption is the new mantra. We look at how cultural organisations can use it to accelerate brand alignment with sponsors to sustain their futures. For the…
Shares and likes are changing journalism
Sharing and the mobile generation are defining journalism today, moving the brand to the writer and the curator of content to the reader. Eight years ago,…
Textile art reinvented
Textile art is back bolder and more conceptually-driven than ever before, challenging definitions of material and practice. Textile art is one of the oldest art forms…
How is a work of art valued?
How do valuers arrive as prices for artworks? We demystify the process with an expert. While we can argue about constitutes “good” or “bad” art, how…
Beyond Success: can a gallery keep growing?
Nick Mitzevich has quadrupled philanthropy and increased attendances by 30% at the Art Gallery of South Australia so what’s left for the encore? Mitzevich was appointed…
How do art auctions work?
Forget elitism – we bring you a glossary that demystifies the art auction, opening a door on a whole other world of collecting. Art Auctions are…
Arty merchandise sells
The shop has become a key component to the museum experience, but also a robust revenue stream vital to galleries of all scales. Museums and galleries…
You can’t put that there…the Public Art dilemma
Is an over-sized milk crate better than a bronze of another eminent white male? Multi-million dollar commissions make public art an increasingly polarising topic. With the…
Is my art leaving on a jet plane?
With the rise of art fairs and biennales internationally, Australian artists are competing in global shopping malls that dictate the market for good or ill. As…
New ceramicists don’t care to be cool
What is driving the rediscovery of ceramics, their renewed collectability and place in the museum environment? It is not surprising as part of this year’s Art…
How to write a great strategic plan
Harnessing a creative vision into a workable strategic model needs acute thinking, skillful writing and huge commitment. Chinese military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu inspired this…
What, new art movements? You’ve got to be kidding
They blazed then died, were regurgitated or appropriated. We thought we’d seen it all, but new art movements have emerged. Art History has been peppered and…
10 new words to fake it in the art world
A screen grab of Old Navy (USA, 2014) television advertisement satirizing the pretentious language of the contemporary art world. Source Ottawacitizen.com I take a look at…
Viral activism: art form of our times
Harvard medical students stage a die-in 9 December 2014; via Instagram @AshleyBSunshine Artists have long addressed social, political, gender and racial issues through their art.…
Is Instagram art?
A picture is worth a thousand words; an algorithm is worth a billion pictures – how is Instagram altering creativity? Audience poses and posts with Richard…
Alex Seton: Refoulement
Island dreams and hopes get shipwrecked with Seton’s new sculptures, which continue his interest in the issue of asylum seekers. Seton captures deflated hopes with his…
Re / Branding Melayu: fruit salad with piquant nationalism?
First published in documenta12 magazine project, for the invited Malaysian publication SentAP!, 2007 In The Matrix Laurence Fishbourne cynically welcomed us “to the desert of the…
Outside In / Inside Out: Observing contemporary Philippine art
First published in Thesis Eleven: Critical Theory and Historical Sociology, Sage Publishing UK in collaboration with La Trobe University Melbourne, 2012. The cultural cartography: Exiting Ninoy…
Double dip: The Asian Biennale and Art Fair
First published in TASSA Review’s 20th Anniversary Issue – 2013 (Australia). There are over 80 international biennials and triennials today, an overwhelming number of which began…
Australians slicing up the Big Apple
Brisbane artist Donna Marcus was in residence when the New York Green Street Studio’s founded Robert Jacks recently passed away, just weeks before his retrospective, Robert…
Is art a commodity?
Speculation, flipping, bid rigging and guarantees all serve to bolster the global art market but at what cost to transparency and lower tier galleries? ‘Christies had…
Conflict over copyright – is it fair?
The arts sector is deeply divided over the introduction of fair use into the Australian Copyright Act, as was evident during the VIVID panel discussion on…
Can performance art be collected?
In recent years we have seen a revival of performance art but its ephemeral nature can create collection issues. Image: Tino Sehgal’s Kiss purchased by MoMA.…
Riding the textured trends of philanthropy
What are the trends, successes and pitfalls driving philanthropy in Australia today? Put simply, philanthropy in Australia is growing. CEO of Philanthropy Australia, Louise Walsh, opened…
Understanding your audience
We are finally getting good research on the arts; how can you use it to develop your audience? The Australia Council for the Arts released new…
The Art of Branding
Should financially strapped arts organisations be spending money on developing brand identity? Image source Designsteinsmmg When dollars are limited the question of effective spending is particularly…
The rise of the Art Advisor
With galleries increasingly under pressure, and universities pumping out a stream of arts professionals, other job options are flourishing as emerging collectors are hungry for professional…
Making your board work for you
From small arts organisations to large multi-million dollar operations, a strong working board can mean the difference between success and sustainability of your company, and not.…
Trends for virtual audiences
SAMAG tackles the topic on everybody’s list – what are the trends in digital engagement and how do we nab those virtual audiences? Image: Social platforms…
Museum architecture: receptacle or spectacle?
Has museum display become subservient to the sculptural branding of architects or should the architecture be a neutral backdrop? Museum architects have become “Starchitects” – global…
Art science collaborations are the new black
A decade of residencies through ANAT’s Synapse scholarships has changed the way art and science collaborate. Image: Still from Erica Seccombe’s project Grow produced during a…
Cultural precincts battle for the global marketplace
What is driving the $US250 cultural precinct billion trend? World expert on cultural precincts, Adrian Ellis knows. ‘Cultural precincts appear to be very fashionable right now,’…