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Arts & Communication Legal risks and art exhibition contracts

However, entering a written contract without careful legal recommendations regarding the issues involved. This
consideration can also lead to significant disputes. After discussion aims to provoke thought within related industries
all, it is the specific terms of the contract that govern the and academic circles, enhancing the contractual awareness
relationship between the parties, not the mere existence of practitioners and ultimately contributing to international
of a written contract. From the process of handling the cultural and artistic exchanges.
case, it is evident that, unlike domestic art exhibitions,
international exhibitions highlight the importance of legal 2. Selection and application of law
terms in contracts due to their unique characteristics. International art exhibitions involve displaying artwork in
On one hand, international exhibitions often involve the two or more countries (regions) due to specific objective
application of laws from two or more countries, which can connections with other countries. As a result, actions may
affect the specific rights and obligations of the parties and be regulated by different legal systems simultaneously,
the performance of the contract. On the other, in the event necessitating the selection of applicable laws. This gives
of a dispute, the parties may face parallel jurisdiction from rise to an important concept in international law—legal
courts in multiple countries, as well as between litigation conflict, which should be emphasized when organizing
1
and arbitration. The choice of litigation or arbitration international exhibitions.
and the procedures that follow can largely determine the
outcome of the case. The prevailing view in the international community
holds that due to reasons such as public law involving the
After the pandemic, the 2022 Basel Art Fairs featured sovereignty of other countries, in international commercial
289 galleries from 40 countries and regions, surpassing transactions, if the foreign law involved in the dispute is
the 272 galleries of the previous year and returning to of a public law nature, courts will neither apply that law
its previous scale. According to “The Survey of Global to adjudicate the case nor execute judgments made by
2
Collection 2023” jointly released by Art Basel and UBS in foreign courts applying that law. This is known as the
2
2023, the total value of global art and antique imports in “public law taboo.” Therefore, the international private law
2022 reached a record high, following the low point caused community limits the scope of “legal conflict” to private
by the pandemic in 2020. The total value of the exports law, which specifically addresses civil and commercial
in 2022 also far exceeded the 2020 levels and approached legal relationships between equal subjects. As for what
a historical high in 2019. In addition, the 2024 China constitutes a “civil and commercial relationship,” there are
3
Museum Trend Observation Report, jointly released by still differing views within the international community;
3
Artron Art and Art Express, points to an upward trend however, generally, the primary rights and obligations
in international exchange exhibitions between Chinese arising from international art exhibitions belong to civil
museums and foreign cultural and artistic institutions. and commercial relationships, and the resulting legal
Chinese museums are also beginning to pay more attention conflicts fall within the scope of conflict of laws. 5
to contemporary art and explore connections between
museums and contemporary art in today’s context. 2.1. Determination of applicable law
4
Clearly, the overall trend of international art and cultural
exchanges remains strong, and with the increase in cross- For civil and commercial relationships involving foreign
border art exhibition activities, the associated risks must countries, there are two main ways to resolve conflicts: a
6
also be considered. direct and an indirect way. The indirect way involves using
domestic conflict rules to specify the applicable law to
Given this, the following discussion will focus on resolve international civil and commercial legal conflicts.
two abovementioned aspects: first, clarifying the main The law specified by the conflict rules is academically
regulations of international law on this issue, then
providing a comparative analysis of relevant provisions in 5 Some scholars also refer to it narrowly as “international
representative domestic laws, and finally offering preliminary private law.”
6 The direct approach includes developing international
2 See “2022 Basel, Switzerland: After the Pandemic, Multiple uniform substantive law and domestic law that are directly
Galleries Achieve Historic Best Results,” published by Artron applicable. Although it offers advantages in terms of certainty
Art, website: https://news.artron.net/20220615/n1110849.html. and predictability that the indirect approach cannot match,
3 See The Survey of Global Collection 2023, published by international uniform substantive law is limited in its
Art Basel & UBS, prepared by Dr. Clare McAndrew, Arts applicable fields and subjects. Additionally, domestic laws
Economics, p.32-37. that are directly applicable typically refer to mandatory
4 See “Special Feature | 2024 China Museum Trend norms that cannot be excluded. If these laws are abused,
Observation,” published by Artron Art & Art Express, website: negative consequences may arise. Therefore, the indirect
https://m-news.artron.net/news/20240606/n2033306.html. approach remains the primary method used internationally.

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 2 doi: 10.36922/ac.2881