Opportunities for free expression abound in the Gulf region

Women in the Gulf are getting scope for free expression, lending voice to mute and oppressed sections of society, while scooping even a bigger career opportunity. It’s a touch ironic that the art produced in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia is most interesting and socially relevant; also where the female artists are finding their voice through visuals.

They may not still be able to wear what they want, vote or drive a car, but they are turning to art in order to release their pent-up feelings. Significantly, there are many women collectors and patrons of Middle Eastern art, apart from those occupying top positions at prestigious museums and festivals in Abu Dhabi and Qatar. But while the recent violent uprisings might have whetted the appetite of aspiring art buyers, one of its underlying reasons - arbitrary, at times unpredictable state clampdown on public speech and expression – continues to loom over the art scene here!

Fairs like Art Dubai are no exception! As was reported in the media, Dubai authorities ordered its organizers to remove a few pieces from display prior to a visit by of the emirate’s ruling family members so as not to antagonize them. Its director Antonia Carver though, played down the alleged censorship, emphasizing it was not uncommon for works to be removed in this fashion across the globe due to cultural or legal concerns. She was quoted as saying: “Dubai’s approach to artistic expression has developed in the recent years. As the city has grown as a cultural capital, it has become more open to the subjects that can be tackled.”

This interest is also a lucrative one for those running the art galleries in Dubai. The opening up of new venues points to a growing demand for art. In fact, not many can promise space for artists keen to put up an exhibition for the next several months. They have to endure a prolonged waiting period, at times more than a year before they can find a space.

The region is witnessing just the beginning of a boom, with immense potential for major art investment, thanks to a growing number of people in the Emirates now opting not only to buy, but also to appreciate art. Meanwhile, new and modern art from India is witnessing a significant resurgence in terms of collector interest in the region. Going by the trend, the Middle East and Dubai in particular, can well emerge as a hub for contemporary Indian art, a segment still relatively under-explored in the region.

Martin Boyce: The 2011 Turner winner

Favorite Martin Boyce won the prestigious Turner Prize last year, claiming a cash prize of 25,000 pound. A Scottish artist has won it for the second year running after Susan Philipsz did so for her sound installation in 2010.

The artist’s creation topped a shortlist of artworks, termed one of the best ever in the Turner's 27-year award history, some critics said. "Some really good, talented artists have won the Prize and some really good have not," Boyce stated at a press conference. "The impact of this award hasn't even hit yet. I don't know when or if it's going to (hit)."

Boyce added that the prize was an apt confirmation of his youthful dream and ambition to become an artist, a career choice fraught with uncertain future. "I never thought that I would be able to support my family through it, but I am now able to live a creative life; it's a privilege," he quipped.

Strewn across the floor of his exhibit at the BALTIC gallery, based in Gateshead of northern England were Brown paper ‘leaves’. A trashcan-like curious structure, fitted with fabric liner rectangular grills attached to the wall at ankle-height, created the atmosphere of a city park. "I guess it has something to do with hope as well as finding the poetic in the abject," he mentioned of his work.

"Boyce has shown himself to be strong through his works showed internationally in a number of big shows," The director of the Tate that runs the annual award, Nicholas Serota, was quoted as saying in a Reuters report. The winning choice was more restrained the last year than in the past, with the prize rather famous for sparking debate about what really constitutes art. Damien Hirst was given the prize for a pickled cow in 1995, whereas an empty room with a light that switched on & off clinched it in 2001 for Martin Creed.

But the lack of controversy did not dampen public interest in the exhibit. Works by the four shortlisted nominees drew strong crowds. More than 100,000 visitors watched the show since it opened at the BALTIC in October; double the number visiting the exhibit at the Tate, London, in 2010.

The Emirate emerges as new art trading hub

Savvy art aficionados, who have already witnessed the rise of India and China as new-century’s art superpowers, obviously do not want to miss out probably the next one in making – Dubai. The Arab art market, analysts point out, has been gradually maturing and consolidating; it’s steadily but surely warming up to quality works of art by young and talented practitioners.

Dubai’s art scene has indeed come out stronger since the global economic meltdown in 2008-09, carving a solid regional identity for itself. The price points there are not obviously at a Murakami or Hirst level. However, an influx of bolder dealers and more informed collectors is creating space for more pricey works, marked with a distinct improvement in quality quotient.

Giving a flavor of things cooking up is an ambitious project of a new artist plus art gallery hub in the vast warehouse area of Al Quoz. Estimated to cost roughly £8.5m, it incorporates the creation of around 46,000 sq m of creative space for galleries and artists’ studios in Al Serkal Avenue that already houses many top contemporary dealers the region. The site will include restaurants and a café, to transform it into a complete entertainment arena.

Underlining the dynamism of Dubai’s art scene, Katy Watson of The BBC News states, “It has grown rapidly, and galleries have multiplied in recent years. The emirate is being seen increasingly as the region's art trading hub.  Spurring the art scene development are the collectors, mostly younger patrons from Saudi, Qatar and the UAE, keen to invest in contemporary artworks within their own region.”

With a whopping 500% increase in total sales figures of Middle Eastern art segment over the last five years or so, global auction houses like Christie’s with prominent salerooms in Dubai, are keen to capitalize on the new market. Just about a decade ago, not many people seemed to take any kind of interest in art, with most investors opting for real estate or banking.

Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past

Indian artists whose works form part of a thematic group show, entitled 'Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past' at the San Francisco-based Asian Art Museum are NS Harsha, Prabhavathi Meppayil, Jagannath Panda, Varunika Saraf and Raqib Shaw.

NS Harsha, an artist who lives and works in Mysore, is a recipient of the prestigious Artes Mundi 3 Prize, he has taken part in a range of collaborative projects and exhibitions internationally. The talented practitioner traverses a variety of media and materials including painting, drawing, and installations incorporating wood, mud, powder, photography and rice.

“This interaction with materials is not just about experimentation, but rather I treat these materials how I treat space and place,” he says. “They have their own story to tell… we need to listen to them and start a journey.” ‘Distress call from Jupiter’s neighborhood’ and ‘Distress call from Saturn’s neighborhood’ tap into the logic of the absurd to express the human connection with the cosmos. Drums accompany each of his paintings, inviting visitors to summon cosmic forces.

Born in Bhubaneswar, in the state of Orissa, New Delhi-based artist Jagannath Panda received his M.F.A. in sculpture from the MS University, Baroda. He went to Japan and England for further studies. The artist currently lives in the burgeoning city of Gurgaon, one of India’s major outsourcing hubs and bases of operation for global corporations.

His works illustrate the city life’s tensions, as over-development threatens natural habitats and infrastructures collapse before they are completed. Panda’s mix of mythology and realism points to the evolving nature of Indian identity and experience today. His snake sculpture ‘The Cult of Survival’ is an expression of the danger in becoming addicted to the cycle of production and consumption in a rapidly changing world. “The inter-entangled form of sewage pipes awakens the human condition,” he says, “the instinct of survival and the ecology of death and renewal of life.”

Evolution of Artur Walther and Budi Tek as top collectors

One common thread that binds the world’s top collectors, as is evident, is their keenness to institutionalize their rich and vast collections.

A renowned German-American collector focused on publicly exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography and video art since the late 1990s, Artur Walther studied at Harvard Business School. He served as a general partner at Goldman Sachs till his retirement. Simultaneously, he started collecting photography and established The Walther Collection.

The collection is open to the public at its Neu-Ulm, Germany based museum campus as well as its Project Space in the New York City. Instead of acquiring works of the well-established artists, he looks for those names typically respected in their home countries, albeit yet to attain global recognition. Of course, once he turns his attention to them, fame and name is far away such is the charisma of the savvy collector.

Budi Tek hardly bothers about the frenzy people get into over the money part of it all, like the wave he created after buying a work by Zhang Xiaogang for a whopping $ 6.7 million at a 2010 Sotheby's auction. For him, all that matters is the work's critical discourse. This maverick collector’s portfolio runs into over a thousand pieces, spanning across the genres of installations, video works, paintings, public sculpture, and photographs.

Chinese contemporary art is a favorite with this an Indonesian Chinese agribusiness owner. His journey as a collector began with a Balinese sculpture almost a decade ago. Beyond sheer love for art what drives Budi Tek is his determination to guard the ‘national treasures’ and to create an educative enriching and lasting  experience. His collection in a way depicts the Chinese contemporary art’s evolution.

He is also keen on Malaysian, Japanese and Arabic art. Tek also has an Anish Kapoor and a Subodh Gupta in his kitty, though the collector concedes he has some catching up to do before focusing on contemporary Indian art. Cultural philanthropy forms the core of his life mission, and wants the ‘rich and mighty’ to take interest in art. His Yuz Foundation aims to form a network of museums and art spaces in Shanghai, Beijing, Jakarta, and Bali.

India fast becoming a market for high end art pieces from Europe

Growing disposable incomes, regular exposure to diverse art forms, increased Internet penetration and social interaction are fast opening up urban India to high-end British interior accessory-art such as Amanda Brisbane sculptures, Wedgewood cutlery, Moorcroft objects`d art etc.

As the European nations sink into recession, lifestyle art brands in the continent are eyeing India as a market to sell their high-end products even at cheaper prices in an apparent ‘reverse trend’ of pre-independence economy of India, when goods from the country were disposed in Europe for a pittance, revealed a leading home arts promoter from the UK, incidentally of Indian origin.

Buyers from Europe are in no position to acquire high end art and the countries need to look for emerging markets like India with a strong economy. Indians have rapidly become adventurous as the economy is growing. People now have more choices. Sunil Sethi, a designer objects` d arts/ sculptures collector points out that they have been bringing in haute objects` d art from the UK, and that they consider India as a major high-end art market.

According to him, exporting niche art objects is easier now since no conditions are imposed on sale in developing countries by the manufacturers and artists owing to the economic slowdown.

The founder of Interarts vigorously promotes many of the high end accessory art brands such as Wedgewood, Royal Doulton, Poole Pottery from UK, Svaja from Eastern Europe, Costaboda from Scandinavia, Rosenthal from Germany, Versace sculptures, Armani from Italy, Cyan Glass and Franz porcelain from Spain and Lladro from Spain.

The objects`d art showcased in the capital city of India included over 100 limited edition pieces from Europe and the US. The contemporary crystal, bronze, glass and porcelain sculptures were priced in the range between Rs.2,500- Rs.14 lakh. A section devoted to colored glass sculptures done by Amanda Brisbane, Richard Golding and Will Shakespeare from Britain was the centre of attraction at the display last month.

Mugrabi goes for Warhol, Sheikha Al Mayassa's loves Islamic Art

Many of the world’s top collectors today come from different backgrounds, but what they have in common is their passion for art! 

Jose Mugrabi, a powerful Israeli collector, owns probably the world's biggest collection of Andy Warhol’s paintings almost 800 of them - apart from works by Rodin, Ernst, Daumier, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Renoir and Picasso.

No other art buyer has capitalized on the iconic artist’s appeal than Mr. Mugrabi. Dealers and auction houses can rarely sell or buy a Warhol work sans his knowledge and intervention in form of active bidding.

Along with his two sons, this former cloth merchant from Colombia has fostered his love for art. The patriarch has the final say on all business and art related matters. His younger son David is known to be a quiet and practical person, whereas Alberto or ‘Tico’ is a gregarious jetsetter. Born in 1939 into a humble Jewish family, the son of a grocer and also the eldest of seven, Jose Mugrabi spent his early days as an errand boy for a fabric firm. He never went to college, and learnt the tricks of textile business on his own. He started a company that imported wholesale fabric during the 1970s.

For the record, Jose Mugrabi never met the late artist personally. He spotted him once - at a restaurant in New York in 1985, even before he had begun collecting his work. Curiously, at that time he hardly knew anything about the painter. Were Warhol still alive, he avers, he would sure come over to meet me…

On the other hand, the young and progressive propelling force behind Qatar's quest to become a foremost destination for the arts & culture in the Middle East, the daughter of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikha Al Mayassa chairs the Qatar Museum’s Authority board. Her vision is to create a solid base for the Islamic Art tradition, even while promoting contemporary artists in an effort to link past and present, East and West. Harboring a passion to foster intercultural relations and give voice to people from every strata of life, she focuses on community interaction and participation, involvement and engagement.

Art+Auction has already named her among the most powerful persons in the world of art. In fact, she has been purchasing art in institutional and individual capacity, and is considered a major force behind the Qatar Museum’s acquisitions including Rothkos, Warhols etc, and also many in Doha's three national museums. She believes that art and culture play a significant role in creating a country's identity, and let every country share its identity with the outside world. The avid art collector quips: ‘We (obviously) don't want to be all the same, but (we) do wish to understand each other."