New Government System to Pay Artists for Their Creative Undertakings

Even though museums currently provide monetary compensation to their commissioned artists, the lack of definitive standards for payments has hindered creative projects, said an art industry official. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)

SEJONG, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Friday that it will begin a pilot project of what its calling an ‘Artist Fee System’, in an effort to ease the financial burden on artists and help them focus on their creative endeavors. 

Artist fees are wages paid to artists in the form of labor costs when museums commission them for artwork. 

Although the system will make use of wage rates set by the government for academic research services (approximately $2,100 for researchers and $1,400 for research assistant), it will also take into consideration the type and the duration of the exhibits. 

Furthermore, the ministry will recommend a standardized contract for artist fees that will clarify the terms of payment and protect artists’ rights and interests. 

Even though museums currently provide monetary compensation to their commissioned artists, the lack of definitive standards for payments has hindered creative projects, said an art industry official. 

The ministry will apply the system to 50 national and public museums across the country to begin with, and gradually expand to commercial museums. 

The system is expected to launch during the first half 2017, and the ministry is hoping to submit a legislative bill that includes the details of its recent announcement to the national assembly before the year’s end. In the meantime, it will continue to gather opinions from both artists and museum officials to further improve the coming system.

By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)