Art and patronage in the Middle East: The United Arab Emirates
[Thesis]
Mert Kaymakci
Degen, Natasha
Sotheby's Institute of Art - New York
2016
71
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-369-33733-4
M.A.
Art Business
Sotheby's Institute of Art - New York
2016
The United Arab Emirates is aiming to become a hub for art production by developing numerous artists' studios and residencies, a major sales arena with galleries, auction houses and art fairs and becoming an alternative destination for established museums and art institutions. This thesis will investigate the development of the United Arab Emirates art market in relation to contributions by art patrons. It will focus on patrons and their investments in art infrastructure projects: either by starting art organizations to support artists or creating major art collections on a museum scale representing different Middle Eastern nationalities. In doing so, these patrons are trying to change how the Middle East is perceived globally. Without these art patrons, could the United Arab Emirates art market function? Could the United Arab Emirates have an emerging art market supported by its collector base alone? This thesis will investigate why major art collectors in the region, acting as patrons, are investing in art infrastructure projects rather than just expanding their collections and explain why the contributions of these patrons are shaping the art eco-system in the United Arab Emirates.
Art Criticism; Middle Eastern Studies
Social sciences;Communication and the arts;Abu Dhabi;Art collectors;Art infrastructure;Dubai;Patronage;United Arab Emirates