Can fine art sell online in Egypt?

Egypt is home to a vibrant contemporary art scene that includes established names such as Ibrahim El Tanbouli, Assem Abdel Fattah, and Britt Boutros Ghali. There is also an impressive crop of up-and-coming contemporary artists who are pushing the boundaries and adding to the depth of the genre in Egypt. However, despite the richness of the scene, there has been a disconnect between the artists and their work, and the potential market of art buyers in Egypt, as well as the wider region.

It is this disconnect that led lifelong art enthusiasts and childhood neighbors Lina Mowafi and Dina Shaaban, to team up with marketing consultant Hatem Zaazou, and launch Arts-Mart.com in November 2012. The online platform sells Egyptian contemporary art, ranging in price from around $200 to upwards of $20,000 USD, with a majority of the pieces falling in the $1,000-$5000 range.

Although widespread poverty is a chronic problem in Egypt (an estimated 25% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2011), there is a sizeable market for the Arts-Mart team to target, as Egypt is also home to a large population with considerable wealth at the top, and one of the largest middle classes on the African continent.

“[Arts-Mart.com] aims to bridge the gap between art lovers – everywhere, not just in Egypt, although the focus is on the Egyptian market – with the Egyptian artists who have had some frustrations in the past decade showcasing their artwork under the current market structure,” said Mowafi, who sells her own art on the platform.

The Arts-Mart.com platform connects artists and consumers with a simple but effective format. Artists create a membership and profile page, and are then able to upload their art onto the Arts-Mart servers. Uploaded art is screened for quality and style by the Arts-Mart team, and approved art is then posted on the website where prospective purchasers can browse through an impressive selection of contemporary art, which can be filtered according to artist, style, medium, collection, and color. And since “not everybody can visualize how a painting will look in their room,” Mowafi says, the site has a ‘View on Your Wall’ feature that allows users to view a selected piece on a wall in a digital room that can be customized to resemble a room in their own home.

Source article:

Can fine art sell online in Egypt?