A New Art from Emerging Markets - 9781848220195

Iain Robertson introduces and examines three types of emerging market for contemporary art: the very recently established, the maturing and the mature. In temporal terms, the youngest are no more than five years old; the maturing, fifteen years old; and the mature up to twenty-five years old. But time is only one measure of the market, because size and speed of growth provide other means of establishing where the market is placed.

As well as providing a survey of emerging art markets throughout the world, the book is concerned with looking at how value in non-Western contemporary art is constructed largely by external political events and economic factors rather than aesthetic considerations. For instance, Dubai's political risk has increased markedly with the threat of a terrorist attack in the Emirate: this has repercussions for one of the world's newest art-market hubs and will undoubtedly affect the progress of prices for Middle-Eastern and Indian art. The book also considers whether it is better to let a new art market grow organically, driven by commercial imperatives, or for the government to step in to construct a cultural and economic infrastructure within which an art market can be placed.

Written accessibly and engagingly for general readers as well as art professionals and investors, this book presents a fascinating overview of the historical context, cultural traditions and current political and economic factors affecting the market for contemporary art in these regions. It offers the collector, investor, speculator, observer and culturally interested individual a unique insight into where the new markets are and how they are likely to develop.