There isn’t a business worldwide that hasn’t felt the virus’s impact, with calamitous results for millions. And the art world has been far from immune. An industry that has become synonymous with hyper-connectedness and global mobility is now, like the rest of us, at a standstill. The places where we experience art from art museums to independent art gallery spaces – are abruptly out of bounds. Many galleries are likely to go out of business; artists will lose livelihoods.
It’s a pivotal moment, we’re going to talk in terms of before and after. The virus will change a lot of things for art.
But what sort of changes, and what sort of things? Is there only emptiness on the horizon, or are there opportunities, too? And when we finally emerge, what will art – and the art world – look like?
One glimmer of hope is that, though we can’t see art in person, we seem hungry to access it by any means possible. Galleries have been experiencing record web traffic: visitors to the British Museum site soared in the early days of the crisis, while the Courtauld Gallery virtual tour reported a 723% spike in visitors in March Every private gallery worth its salt has launched “online viewing rooms”. Even the blue-chip Art Basel Hong Kong went virtual.
Beneath all this, of course, there is a grim reality: money. With the global economy stalled, the wealth that has fuelled the art world for the past 20 years – a period of discombobulating growth, museum expansions, soaring auction prices, more art fairs by the month – is suddenly in doubt.
Rosemont Art Advisory has invited experts from Arteïa, a technology company tackling problems of the art market, to take a closer look at the opportunities and challenges for the art world and its ecosystems.
Join us for a refreshing and inspiring talk this Friday, 24th of April, 4pm CEST, via Zoom and use a hashtag for your social media: #ArtDigitalTransformation
Please register here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nI4arajRSIuEiDH5soottg
For more information please contact Karolina Blasiak at: k.blasiak@rosemont-mc.com