Some big questions hang over the future of this market, since we are leaving behind the effects of the pandemic. One refers to its digitization and the importance that online will end up taking on in the commercial transactions of works of art. Today it is estimated that they represent 20% of the total, but we are aware that we are still at the beginning of this new paradigm and the possibilities are exponential. Just by peeking out, NFTs and their disintermediation have already shown their ability to turn the business model of this industry upside down. And no one knows where it will take us in the near future.
Another refers to the role that Asia will play in shaping the global market in the coming years, as we have seen how part of the market was shifting towards this area, while interest in Asian art grew. Clare McAndrew estimates that it already represents 25% of the total, although the figures we use, especially those that refer to China, are not the most reliable. If we start from the fact that this is an industry that has not grown in the last twelve years –since it has been oscillating between 57,000 and 68,000 million dollars–, some of us point out that it will be precisely the Asian market that will cause the expansion of this entire industry as the Chinese market begins to wake up. What its capital will be is another question, because beyond Beijing and Shanghai, today the fight between Hong Kong and Singapore to capitalize on the most business friendly part of the Chinese market is still open.
The big auction houses have gradually conquered the Asian capitals, opening offices and putting good professionals in charge, seeing that it was a booming market. So did the big galleries. The fairs are a good indication of the ambition there is for this positioning, and if the first edition of Frieze opened in Seoul in September, with sales success, in January attention shifted to Art SG in Singapore, once some initial turbulence had been resolved. . These days is the great moment of Art Basel in Hong Kong, a low-tax financial hub that today is a leader in the area and shows a growing interest in culture. We will see how the fair will go and how the competition for this great market (which is already today) will develop.
