It may not have had the high theatre of an auctioneer’s gavel signalling a record-breaking sale to an excited throng of art lovers, but when bidding closed on London-based The Auction Room’s online Middle Eastern Contemporary Art sale last Wednesday, the ripples were felt across the art world.
It wasn’t the prices that works by the likes of the Iraqi artists Hayv Kahraman or Dia Azzawi went for that created a buzz – The Auction Room doesn’t reveal its results, for reasons we shall discover.
Much more interesting were the people buying the work. For, after years in which faceless western collectors snapped up Middle Eastern art for investment purposes, the majority of the activity in this auction was from the Arab world.
“And that’s so encouraging,” says Janet Rady, the curator of the auction and a specialist in contemporary art from the Middle East.
“Arab people are getting excited about art from their part of the world and we’re finding that it’s not just for investment purposes, but because they love the work and want to put it on their walls. It’s for the right reasons and that’s really pleasing.”
Original article by Ben East
Continue reading at The National:
Middle East art comes home: London auction house’s online sale dominated by local buyers
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