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!
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