The India Art Fair and the Market for Visual Arts in the Global South

Abstract

Introduction The international art market has been in the limelight for some years, with record prices for art sales reported in the media and artists and collectors obtaining rock star status. The ongoing process of globalization in the art world whereby artists, their works and artistic inventions migrate seemingly without effort to distant lands, has enforced the perception of an integrated and fast-paced global art market. Many commentators ascribe the growth of the volume of the art trade to the rise of the emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Indeed, few would dispute that the new art buyers from the so-called BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), in addition to Arab nations such as the United Arab Emirates, have supplied much needed oxygen to the global art market. Evidence of the art trade convincingly shows that the revenues generated by China and other emerging nations have de facto saved the art market from a downturn akin to the financial crisis that has affected so many aspects the world economy (McAndrew, 2013). Fueled by a rising population, double-digit economic growth and cultural policy promoting the arts, these rapidly growing economies have become important players on the global art market. Indeed, this artistic surge has allowed the art scenes in key cities to flourish, providing hitherto unseen opportunities for artists and intermediaries to develop and market their art. New museums, art academies and countless galleries have sprung up to provid much needed exhibition space, while art fairs and biennials have offered a forum for the art world’s stakeholders to mingle in cities such as Shanghai, Sao Paulo or Delhi. Crucially, in the wake of these expanding economies and the disposable income they