| Our predecessors, then the National Heritage Committee, took the art market as the subject of its first inquiry in 1992, with an emphasis on exports. The state of the visual arts is a useful proxy for the health of our cultural life and it is therefore fitting that they once again form the subject of our inquiry.
The present inquiry has focused on the inter-relationship of artist and art market, and the encouragement of new and innovative work. Developments in the wider sector and relevant legislation have necessarily been examined. Both central and local government can play influential roles in meeting many of the important objectives identified to us: from educating the artists of tomorrow to the provision of studio space and advice on professional development for the artists of today.
Government and the Arts Councils, industry and artists, should all work together to establish best practice guidelines to secure contracts that are fair to artists and art market professionals alike.
A particular focus of industry concerns has been the forthcoming transposition of EU legislation, introducing royalty payments when work is resold. The implications of this artists' resale right, or droit de suite, have thus featured significantly in both the oral and written evidence, and in discussions we held with the French Government.
We believe that droit de suite should be implemented in a way that provides a significant number of artists with an additional source of income, while signalling the value society attaches to intellectual property and creativity; and that this should be possible without adversely affecting the UK's vibrant art market.
Above all, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport must signal and promote the arts throughout Government. The arts can help meet cultural objectives, both nationally and internationally; and this would be better achieved were they to have an effective champion in Government.
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