As we settle into the post Y2K New Millennium and the hyperbole surrounding E-commerce reaches fever pitch, it is timely to look at Indigenous art and the latest technology and how they converge in the context of generating virtual sales of actual art.

For Australia's Indigenous people, participation in the World Wide Web and Internet can be a bewildering and confusing jumble of technology, techno-speak, techno-glitter and costs. There is no doubt that the WWW, computers and Interactive Multimedia are additional tools for creative expression but without content and people to 'publish' the content, it's a useless pile of bits and bytes.
Australian Indigenous people have 170,000 years (+) of content but not the necessary access to technology and the pre-requisite skill in translating that content into Cyberspace although this situation is slowly changing.

At present there are a couple of Government agencies such as the Australia Council (http://www.ozco.gov.au/), some TAFEs and the Australian Film Commission (http://www.afc.gov.au/) who have made serious attempts to provide Indigenous people and communities with the skills required to participate in the digital revolution. Others such as the Cooperative Multimedia Centres soon jettisoned their Indigenous strategies despite large Government subsidies to invest in innovation.

Non Government Organisations such as the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT - http://www.anat.org.au/) and community groups have offered workshops and specialised training strategies but with limited support from Government and limited reach.

E-Commerce on the World Wide Web.
Many interested observers will have kept an (often sceptical) eye on E-commerce and will be trying to work out how it can work for them.
We've all read the reports on Indigenous art sales in Australia reaching $200 million per annum, with reputable art auction houses such as Sotheby's included in this activity. Those readers who have an interest in new technology will also have heard the stories of amazon.com and other on-line retailers who have achieved a market value of $800 million despite annual losses. It's a short leap to bring the two markets together, that of Aboriginal art sales and the World Wide Web with its estimated 1.5 billion users.

The number of web sites dedicated to the sale of Aboriginal art is growing (and it is predominantly Aboriginal and not Torres Strait Islander art). Many liberally use the term 'authentic' in the on-line sales pitches, often with pictures of the artists and their wares.
Many of the sites I have visited are by non-Indigenous dealers and galleries with a growing number of Indigenous sites offering examples of Aboriginal art on-line.

In general the sale of art on-line, whether it's Indigenous or not, is difficult because many buyers are suspicious of information security and the 'authenticity' and quality of the art being purchased.
The viewing of art in an on-line environment is subject to the user's computer set-up (screen resolution, gamma etc), the time it takes for detailed images to load etc

Also many buyers need to 'feel' and 'smell' the paint or bark which is being sold. Craft objects also suffer from buyers more comfortable with the need to 'touch' the art piece and to get a 'feel' for the piece. In the computer environment, this is not possible and without this physical contact or connection, artists are losing many potential sales. It appears that long distance buyers use many of the current Aboriginal art sites to view the art and then physically go to their nearest gallery to purchase similar styles or pieces.

Many of the Aboriginal-owned art sites reviewed were basically marketing sites and the look and feel of Aboriginal on-line retailers remains standard with little innovation. Very few such as www.aboriginalaustralia.com.au and www.aboriginalart.com.au/ are Indigenous on-line E-Commerce ventures, which promote Indigenous art for sale. It is difficult to determine the actually viability of these sites but there seems to be great faith in such on-line retailing being profitable given the number of sites dedicated to the sale of Aboriginal art on-line.

As a marketing tool, the WWW is invaluable but is it leading to increased sales of Indigenous art?

Getting Indigenous Art On-Line.
There are a number of impediments to Indigenous artists getting their art work published on-line. It costs money, requires access to technology and also requires a host site if not their own web site on which they can imbed their images.

As artists and arts workers in general are at the lower end of the income scale, the problem of accessing finances necessary to 'publish' art on-line remains probably the largest hurdle. Once an artist has secured a sponsor or received a grant, they need to get access to a digital still camera or digital video camera to 'capture' the image for publication on a digital web site or alternatively a scanner to digitise an existing photographic image. After this, they need to find a web site or host for the art. If they want to sell their work on-line then they need a host site which is encrypted for E-commerce. Phew.

Webs sites attract visitors in two major ways. One group are interested in the topic and have searched through the myriad of WWW search engines looking for 'Aboriginal' or 'Indigenous' art. Other visitors are those who have happened upon the site or followed links from other sites. There is a need to continually update sites in order to keep people coming back. This requires site maintenance either by the artist or the site host. Either way it requires time and/or money for this to occur. Not many people will read the same magazine or information twice.

As more and more people experiment with E-commerce, I believe there will be an increase in the purchase of Aboriginal art on-line. Also, as the technology for displaying art evolves to include 3D imaging available at fast rates on-line, there will be a greater appreciation of Aboriginal art and therefore, potentially, greater sales on-line. At present the WWW and Internet are the best tools for educating people about Aboriginal art and the inherent beauty and meaning of Aboriginal art and thus encouraging people to purchase pieces, but we are a long way from sustaining profitable sale of art on-line.

The following are just a few examples of Aboriginal sites from a very large number available:

Marketing:
http://www.culture.com.au/boomalli/index.html
http://www.usp.com.au/gunyah/serpent/
http://www.users.bigpond.com/Mangkaja_Arts/webpage/index.html
http://www.octa4.net.au/mbantua/
http://www.warumpi.com.au/
http://www.wr.com.au/walangari/

E-Commerce:
http://www.aboriginalart.com.au/
http://www.aboriginalaustralia.com.au/