Recently Gadens expanded its pro bono partnership with Arts Law Centre of Australia by joining its Adopt a Lawyer Program. Through this program, Gadens has partnered with Arnhem and Northern Kimberley Artists (ANKA) Aboriginal Corporation, the peak support and advocacy body for Aboriginal artists and Aboriginal owned-community Art Centres in Western Australia and the Top End of the Northern Territory.
Following on from the success of our first Outreach trip with Arts Law to Western Australia (read more here), and in light of this new partnership, Gadens Partner Alexandra Walker attended our second Outreach trip with Lawyer and Director of Artists in the Black, Donna Robinson and visited Numbulwar Numbrindi Arts and Ngukurr Art Centre in Arnhem Land, both member organisations of ANKA.
Donna and Alexandra met with local artists to discuss the importance of Indigenous Cultural & Intellectual Property (ICIP) to protect First Nations stories, language, culture and visual expression and conducted workshops to better inform artists on the application and limitations of existing intellectual property laws in protecting ICIP. Throughout their trip, Donna and Alexandra also assisted artists with the preparation of wills to assist artists in controlling their legacy and the distribution of assets when the time comes.
Mark Pistilli, Chief Executive Officer of Gadens, commented on Gadens ongoing relationship with Arts Law and its expansion to working with ANKA:
“One of our key strategies is to respect and connect with First Nations, which is why I am so delighted by the continued support our people provide to First Nations peoples and their communities.
We deeply value our partnership with Arts Law, which has helped in our decision to be the first law firm to partner with ANKA through Art Law’s Adopt a Lawyer Program.
Alex and many more of our talented lawyers are standing by to give legal support to ANKA and its artists, which will be our honour.
And of course I look forward to seeing more of the stunning pieces produced by those artists.”
Gadens is proud to continue partnering with Arts Law and we look forward to the start of this new pro bono partnership with ANKA.
For more information on Sustainability and Social Impact at Gadens, please see this link.