Reading List

The list of books below are for people who would like to gain additional knowledge about professional practices. 

There is a mass of knowledge out there and this list is just a suggestion of some of the books that will give you additional and specific information. 

• To order books online go to:

•      Khalahari
•      Amazon     

Books

Please contact us if you know a book that you think should be on this list.

Local Books

• Making Your Art Work: a guide to making a living from art in South Africa
•      - Ann Gadd
•      - The book covers all aspect of making art your business, and delves into an array of art 
•         related issues such as:
•              The Internet and how to use it effectively as a promotional and sales tool
•              Art scams to watch out for
•              Different types of galleries
•              Engaging with galleries
•              Finding a style that works for you
•              Copyrighting your work
•              Marketing your work
•              And much more to inspire the reader.
•      - Orders to: 021 - 701 4477 or orders@blueweaver.co.za

African Arts Institute and The Arterial Network Publications

• Union House, 25 Commercial St, Cape Town
• www.afai.org.za    
• www.arterialnetwork.org

•      Voices | A compilation of Testimonials 
•      African Artists living & working in Cape Town and surrounds
•      ISBN 978-0-9869896-6-7

•      Adapting the Wheel | Cultural Policies for Africa
•      A generic cultural policy framework which can be adapted to suit any African country, 
•      aimed at artists, cultural practitioners and stakeholders in Africa.
•      ISBN 978-0-9869896-1-2

•      Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit
•      A practical guide offering templates, tips and tools for networking, lobbying and 
•      advocating for the arts on the African continent.
•      ISBN 978-0-9869896-3-6

•      Arts and Culture Information Directory
•      An Information directory of arts, culture and heritage organisations, including useful arts 
•      and culture statistcs per African country. 
•      ISBN 978-0-9869896-8-1

•      Contemporary Arts and Culture Discourses | African Perspectives 2011 Edition
•      A compiliation of seminar papers by African cultural leaders on cultural policy themes to 
•      encourage rigorous debates on the continent and to contribute to international forums. 
•      ISBN 978-0-9869896-0-5

•      Arts Fundraising Toolkit
•      A practical guide offering templates, tips and tools for fundraising, proposal writing and 
•      financial strategy for the arts on the African continent.
•      ISBN 978-0-9869896-4-3

International Books

• ART/WORK - Everything you need to know (and do) as you pursue your art career
•      - Heather Darcey Bhandari & Jonathan Melber
•      - This is a fantastic book that has been well written and is very easy to read. It gives a brief introduction on how
•         artists should manage themselves and it is filled with great insights and tools.

• A Visual Artists Guide to Estate Planning
•      - Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundations & Judtih Rothschild Foundation
•      - This is quite a comprehensive book written for people who would like to run and manage 
•        their own estates or to gain a better understanding on what estate planning is about. The 
•        book is written for Americans, so one cannot take all the information at face value as it applies 
•        to American Law. This book, however, certainly starts getting you thinking in the right direction.

• ART LAW : The Guide for Collectors, Artists, Investors, and Dealers Third Edition ( 3 volume Set)
•      -  Judith Bresler & Ralph E. Lerner

• All About Rights for Visual Artists
•      - Judith Bresler & Ralph E. Lerner

• The $12 Million Stuffed Shark | The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
•      - Don Thompson
•      - An informative and occasionally hilarious look at the surreal contemporary art market....A 
•        clear-headed approach to a frequently high-pitched issue, Kirkus reviews
•      - Don Thompson provides the single best guide to both the anthropology and the economics 
•        of contemporary art markets. This book is fun and fascinating on just about every page, 
•        The New York Sun

• The Artist's Guide : Making a Living Doing What you Love
•      - Jackie Battenfield
•      - Its a comprehensive handbook that provides the     
•        information, tools, and techniques, for developing and 
•        sustaining a successful art career. It provides answers to 
•        the challenges artists face everyday and includes real-life 
•        examples, illustrations, step-by-step exercises, and bulleted 
•        lists that allow readers to dive in and begin working 
•        immediately.

• Art of the Deal : Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market
•      - Noah Horowitz
•      - Art today is defined by its relationship to money as never before. Prices of living artists' 
•        works have been driven to unprecedented heights, conventional boundaries within the art 
•        world have collapsed, and artists now think ever more strategically about how to advance 
•        their careers. Artists no longer simply make art, but package, sell, and brand it.
•      - Princeton University Press

•  Rethinking Curating: Art after New Media
•       - Cook, Sarah and Graham, Beryl, , 
•          Mass.: MIT, 2010

• Art Power
•      - Groys, Boris, Cambridge, 
•         Mass.:MIT, 2008
•      - Art has its own power in the world, and is as much a force in the power play of global 
•        politics today as it once was in the arena of cold war politics. Art, argues distinguished 
•        theoretician Boris Groys, is hardly a powerless commodity subject to the art market's fiats of 
•        inclusion and exclusion. In Art Power, Groys examines modern and contemporary art 
•        according to its ideological function.

• What Makes a Great Exhibition?
•      - Marincola, Paula (ed.),
•      - Philadelphia Centre for Arts and Heritage, 2006
•      - "With the proliferation of degree courses now churning out graduates in the subject, this will 
•         provide informative reading both to those starting their curating careers and those already 
•         established in the field."—Helen Sumpter, Time Out London

• Seven Days in the Art World,
•      - Thornton, Sarah,  
•      - London: Granta, 2008
•      - Art and business, personal quests and personality cults, big bucks and the triumph of 
•         concept over beauty, being cool and in the know—these are the cardinal points in the 
•         contemporary art world. Enter Thornton, an art historian and sociologist with moxie and 
•         a brilliant game plan. Willing to ask obvious questions, she infiltrates the seven circles 
•         of this competitive realm. An astute observer and stimulating storyteller whose crisp 
•         sentences  convey a wealth of information, Thornton marvels at the military precision of 
•         a Christie’s auction and the wild improvisation of an art-school critique..Donna Seaman

• How to start and run a commercial gallery
•      - Edward Winkleman
•      - " This is not rocket science - no wait - it really is. A gallery is one of the most complicated 
•        and hands-on intense projects anyone can begin. This book will help you in all fronts and 
•        steer you in the directions that it does not (due to professional constraints) cover, law, state 
•        and fed regs, etc. A service has been done and we all ought to owe Mr. W some thanks for 
•        sharing what he learned the hard way. Buy it - read it - and open a gallery. I did." 
•       _{Amazon review}

Contribute

This section needs to be developed.

Do you know a book which you think should be on this list. Contribute to ARTRIGHT: donate money and contribute time, skills, knowledge or resources. This community resource grows with your involvement.