Zim visual artists at mercy of foreign buyers

Zimbabwean metal artists were shown chanting and picketing outside the French Embassy in protest against a French art dealer who is alleged to have issued an embargo, prohibiting them from selling their crafts to other buyers. The dealer is said to control the copyright monopoly of the market.
This event is a clear indication of the exploitation and chicanery that takes place within the art trade – particularly when artists are ignorant of their legal rights.
Although copyright laws have been standardised to some extent through international and regional agreements and conventions, the absence of proper legal structures pertaining to the arts in Zimbabwe renders the artist unprotected and unempowered against trade exploitation from foreign buyers, their agents or gallerist.
This same lack of knowledge applies equally to gallery directors, legal officers, such as law enforcers and immigration officers, clearing and shipping agents and other relevant authorities – who see the process merely as a simple short-term monetary transaction.
Copyright owners, in this case, the visual artists (the creators) have the exclusive statutory right to exercise control over the copying, reproduction, distribution, sales and other exploitation of their works for a specific period of time, provided necessary legal measures were taken – after which the work is said to enter the public domain.
In this case, the artists by default transferred their exclusive rights to the buyer, thus ceding their rights.
This writer has been actively advocating to the artists for the past 17 years, to sanction their trade.
Today, due to the lack of concrete legal structures in Zimbabwe, pertaining to the visual arts, most cases, neither the content nor the work of art are considered as tangible property.
Ultimately, the artists have no legal leg to stand on. This is the quandary faced by the metal artists protesting outside the foreign embassy recently.
Art is not for indiscriminate sale – artists sell their rights when they sell their works.

l Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy and a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a practising artist, art critic/consultant and corporate image consultant.