Tax-Free Zone for Art in China????

Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Group ( BGCDG ), a conglomerate owned by the Beijing municipal government  is trying to create a tax-free zone for companies in the arts-and-entertainment world in Beijing. The Freeport, expected to partially open next year, promises warehouses for art storage, offices for companies involved in everything from luxury goods to software design, and production facilities for film and television.

All services and goods exchanged at the Freeport, which is expected to cost  BGCDG  5 billion yuan (US$802.1 million) to build, will be free of government taxes. Last year, BGCDG  signed up English auction house Sotheby's as a partner to run an art-auction business out of the Freeport.

However not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. Critics feel  it is foolish to think creative industries would sprout the same way low-cost manufacturing did in China's special economic zone, as they are essentially different.

Right now BGCDG  is in negotiations to have the help of Euroasia Investment SA. The facility is modeled on Euroasia's existing Singapore Freeport facility, which is a high-security storage facility for art storage and tax-free trading of high-value collectibles. While a contract has yet to be signed, both said they are confident they will be able to complete a deal soon and have a facility running by 2014.

Euroasia is banking on demand from Chinese collectors who wish to avoid the hefty duties and levies on importing valuable art. Imported works of art are subject to a 34% tax of the purchased value. Many wealthy Chinese collectors who have bought art abroad have smuggled their works or played down the value of the works to customs to lessen the tax blow, but the Chinese government has begun to crack down on the evasion.

Hmmm..... so what does this mean? Well it's very interesting but a little  too chiam for people like us. But for those wealthy Chinese, that's something to look forward to!!!!

Changing art scene in Dubai

Dubai has long since been the a hub for the very rich & famous . Similarly  the Arab art scene has been flourishing and drawing the attention of global curators, critics and collectors.

What accounts for the rise in global popularity of Middle Eastern art? Well I bet , money has something to do with it. The prices of Arab art started to rise in auctions in 2007 - in tandem with Asian art prices - as more Arabs caught the art fever. When works by prominent Arab artists such as Parvis Tanavoli and Mahmoud Said crossed the million dollar mark at auctions, every wealthy Arab sat up and took notice.

Arab art boom

Only  17 years ago, there were only two galleries in Dubai. Posters were popular then, not paintings. Today, that has all changed, galleries are everywhere.  Within a short space of time, the people have started to refine their taste in art. First they started to buy paintings, but now they are buying artworks other than paintings - such as sculptures, installations and video works. They are buying art to show they've arrived. In the Middle East, as in Asia, art has become the latest signifier of wealth, status and refinement.

Well like they said,  when you have enough Ferraris and Lamborghinis, that's when you start collecting art. They are opening to art in a big way, not only are they buying it,  they've also become more open to letting their children become artists- isnt that great?  In fact according to a young artist, art is the "new, hot, glamorous job to be in". I guess the difference is they have money, don’t think there be a ‘struggling’ artist there anytime soon….lol…….

Unlike most cities around the world, Dubai, it seems, wants more artists. Its galleries now represent artists from all over the Arab region, from Egypt to Iran to Oman. Dubai has become the gateway to the art of the Middle East - just as Hong Kong is to China, and Singapore is to Southeast-Asia. What an exciting time !!! Would like to visit  one day!