What is Solid Arts?
Solid Art is …
- an online hub with free legal information and practical tools for Indigenous artists
- information for everyone who has an interest in Indigenous arts
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a portal to other sites relevant to Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property
Where do I find information relevant to me?
If you are an Indigenous artist
It may be best to start looking under art forms. Click on the art form that is most relevant to you. For example, if you are a painter you would probably click on visual arts. From this page you can click on the links in the left panel to see different types of resources that are relevant to visual artists. In this example, if you click on Information Sheets you would see all the fact sheets that are useful for visual artists.
Alternatively, if you have a specific issue or problem and you know what type of legal matter it is, you might want to look under legal topics. For example, if someone wants you to sign an agreement for selling your art works you would click on contracts. From this page you can click through to the resources that are relevant to this area of law.
If you want more general information that is relevant to all artists you might want to go to some of the other sections of the website. The negotiation page has essential information about protecting yourself when dealing with people who want to deal in your artworks, and enforcement issues discusses what to do when things go wrong. You may also want to look at income and pricing as a starting place for information about being fairly paid for your work.
Case studies are a great place to read real stories about why it is important to protect you rights and how you can take action when things go wrong. The audio and video section is also excellent for providing a real-world context to the common legal issues faced by Indigenous artists.
If you are someone who works with Indigenous artists
The section on working ethically is a good place general place to start. We have complied and categorised a comprehensive list of protocols that can be used by different types of people and organisations. Income and pricing provides links to fair pricing information. The negotiation page also has a section relevant to commercial operators who deal with Indigenous artists.
If you are an Art Centre or commercial operator you should also look at the art forms and legal topics sections to find further resources relevant to your organisation. A number of sample agreements have been developed by the Arts Law Centre specifically for use with Indigenous artists and are available to download for free.
Non-indigenous artist and creators who are working with Indigenous artists or communities may also want to look at collaborative projects in addition to the above resources.
If you are someone who purchases Indigenous art or is interested in Indigenous issues generally
People wanting to buy Indigenous art may want to start by looking at the buying indigenous art section of the income and pricing page. The hot topics section is a good place to get up to date with current issues. There are also excellent audio and video educational resources available in accessible formats.
