About

ART LDGR

ART LDGR was conceived in Aotearoa New Zealand by artist and curator Reuben Friend in collaboration with neurosurgeon Reuben Johnson in the belief that artists should be appropriately compensated for their creative productions and intellectual property. After 18 months of research and development, the ART LDGR online gallery was officially launched on 02 August 2022 with the capability to deploy blockchain smart contracts to secure resale royalties for artists.

Royalty Legislation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Just days after launching the ART LDGR online gallery, on 18 August 2022 the Aotearoa New Zealand Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni announced the establishment of an Artist Resale Royalty Scheme. The scheme will be introduced with standalone legislation that the Government expects to enact by late 2024. The scheme will primarily align with UK and EU royalty legislation, but with a flat 5 percent royalty (before fees and expenses) that will be available to artists in Aotearoa New Zealand and approximately eighty other reciprocating countries. The royalty period is linked to the duration of copyright, expiring 50 years after the death of the artist.

Resale Royalty Admin made easy with Blockchain

ART LDGR is an example of how this much needed administrative infrastructure to disseminate visual art resale royalties can be implemented today. ART LDGR was created to make this process simple and demonstrate how this system can work for artists, art agents, collectors and art organisations. Our project aims are to work with artists, art agents and collectors to help others do the same. If you are interested in learning more, subscribe to our newsletter or drop us a line on our contact page.

Reuben Friend

Reuben Friend (Ngāti Maniapoto, Pākehā) is a Wellington-based Aotearoa New Zealand artist, curator and writer with an extensive history in the arts and cultural sector. He is the current Managing Director of ART LDGR and was previously the Director of Pātaka Art Gallery and Museum in Porirua from 2015-2021. Board roles include Co-Chair of the Indigenous Curatorial Collective in Toronto (Canada), committee member for the Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery Māori Advisory Board Te Haerewa, and committee member of the Wellington Sculpture Trust Arts Advisory.

Friend has curated numerous international projects in Taiwan, Australia, Turtle Island Canada and was formerly the Curator of Māori and Pacific Art at City Gallery Wellington from 2009-2013. He brings strong experience in Māori and Indigenous strategy and policy to ART LDGR, with previous roles as the Senior Advisor for Treaty Relations at Wellington City Council, and the Art, Culture and Heritage Advisor Māori for the three regional Councils of the Wairarapa. 

Friend has a degree in Māori Visual Arts from Toimairangi School of Māori Visual Arts at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (2006), and a Masters in Māori Visual Arts from Te Pūtahi a Toi School of Māori Studies at Massey University in Palmerston North (2009).

Reuben Johnson

Reuben Johnson is a neurosurgeon trained in Glasgow, London, Cambridge, Oxford, Melbourne, and Vicenza.  In addition to his surgical interests he  and holds a dual qualification in law with a LLB from the University of London, and is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine. 

Reuben’s interest in art began as a school boy in Chatou, Paris.  He has a DPhil from the Department of Human Anatomy & Genetics at the University of Oxford where he researched the genetics of human language evolution.  Reuben is particularly interested in the language of art, not only as a form of communication, but also to establish relations between people, to explore and play with ideas, and as a mental activity to gain understanding.

Reuben is currently a Consultant Neurosurgeon based in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, and is the author and editor of four books on anatomy and surgery including the best-selling Landmark Papers in Neurosurgery by Oxford University Press. He is the author of numerous peer reviewed articles in neuroscience, law & bioethics, and in other fields including the role of art in medicine. He is interested in the potential applications of blockchain technology and the possibilities that this can provide for artists, collectors, art galleries and dealers.