In this talk, Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett presents an outline of the history of art and cultural heritage fraud in Australia. She examines the ways in which scholarship intersects (or does not intersect) with art fraud investigations and what is at stake when art fraud goes unreported. With the Australian indigenous art market estimated at around $500 million and with estimates for the amount of problematic art in the market at about 10%, the issue is significant in both economic and social terms. This talk looks at these issues and at the current options for dealing with the problem of art fraud in the Australian market.

Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett is Director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, which delivers industry-focused teaching, research and consultancy programs related to cultural preservation. Her current research incorporates art authentication, the scientific and cultural analysis of painting and mediums used in Australia, art market development and the impact of art fraud, cultural conservation in Southeast Asia, and the preservation of cultural material and archives held in remote and regional communities. In 2003 she was awarded the AICCM’s Conservator of the Year Award for ‘Services to the Conservation Profession’.

This talk will launch the Humanities 21 series New Interpretations of Australia, in which experts will present undiscovered aspects of Australia’s history and culture over a sit-down lunch.

Date: Tuesday 10 June 2014, 12:15pm for 12:45pm until 2:00pm,

Venue: Morgans at 401, 401 Collins St, Melbourne 3000.

Cost: Humanities 21 members: $45, non-members: $60. Sit-down lunch included.

To book and for further information see the Humanities 21 website:  https://humanities21.com.au/event/talk-why-being-real-matters-art-and-authenticity-in-australia/