Exporting the arts

Working with the Arts Industry
Arts and entertainment is synonymous with the hospitality industry so food and/or beverage exporters should already be aware of the opportunities to partner with the arts. Whether you’re a winemaker supplying your drop for an exhibition opening, or a caterer at a festival event, there are numerous ways to co-export.

South by Southwest is a major music, film and interactive conference held in the US city of Austin, Texas every year. Austin also happens to be the headquarters of Whole Foods Market, a leader in organic retail. “We had Australian artists playing at South by Southwest so in conjunction with Whole Foods we did an event called Aussie Tastes & Tunes,” says Proft. “Out the front of their flagship store in Austin we had Australian musicians playing, together with Australian food sampling. It’s looking for innovative ways like that to leverage opportunity.”

Indirect export is also a way to get in on the arts action, whether that’s a textile manufacturer supplying material for costumes or a promotions company providing merchandise. Technology is a broad area that could touch on various aspects of the arts—from digital books to audiovisual editing software to innovative sound and lighting equipment—as could education, considering the number of art, design and film courses available in universities and colleges around Australia.

Trade Barriers
Proft says the visa process is probably the most significant barrier to trade for the arts, especially for performing artists. “It’s quite costly and cumbersome, in terms of the timeframe, to get a visa. For a standard application to the US, we’re talking about three months,” he reports. Some countries may require performing artists to attain a performance licence.

Apart from regulatory paperwork and intellectual property concerns, the other burning issues are macro, involving politics and the economy. “The issue of terrorism is massive because of security and because of people’s threshold for risk around political content,” says Bender. “Security we can’t control. If something blows up at Heathrow next week, the whole world changes again.”

A strong Australian dollar is the latest obstacle for arts contracts. Mostly it will just affect the way companies do business, says Bender. “All contracts used to be in US dollars because that meant more money. Currency fluctuations have changed that and, as a result, people don’t negotiate contracts in US dollars any more—it might be in Euros or it might be in Australian dollars depending on the community.”

Certain areas of the arts are disproportionately affected by economic downturn, in particular visual arts. “When economies tighten, we still see an increase in musicians touring, an increase in sales of literature rights, [but] visual arts is very much tied to the stockmarket,” notes Bender.

The Future of Arts Exports
Both Odgers and Bender nominate indigenous arts as an area that hasn’t reached its full potential. Odgers sees a strong recognition of Australian indigenous arts but hopes for a more strategic approach to export. “We’re concentrating on collector’s trips into Australia, which are supported by some of the state governments. Touring the outback can be very expensive and you can’t get Australian indigenous art anywhere else.”

He also notes that social issues affect the products, including the recent Senate enquiry into some Northern Territory communities. “Art is not the highest priority for a lot of indigenous groups so supply is a key issue, as is the capability of art centres to sustain themselves,” says Odgers. “Things occurring in Australia need to be addressed before there’s real engagement with a potential customer database overseas.”

Conversely, another emerging market is the exploration of Australia’s diverse population. “That’s an area Canada benefited from enormously—the cultural diversity of Canada became its platform in the international scene. Relationships in China were heavily tied to the fact that Canada had first country/second country stuff and I see that happening in Australia between the Italian, the Lebanese, and the diversity of Asian communities,” relays Bender. “There’s a variety of different cultural communities that are very distinct and I think that’s a big selling point.”

The opportunities to export in the arts—whether you are an arts business or not—is as broad as the sector itself. It’s time to take your cue and enter stage right.