New art, new markets

Originally published in 2011, Iain Robertson's A New Art from Emerging Markets introduced and examined three types of emerging markets for contemporary art: the very recently established, the maturing and the mature. This fully revised second edition not only updates the reader on this rapidly evolving market, but also adds important new sections on South America – focusing on Brazil, Mexico, Columbia and Cuba – on Nigeria, South Africa and Qatar. Besides the temporal aspect, it discusses how size and speed of growth provide other means of establishing where the market is placed. As well as providing a survey of emerging art markets throughout the world, the book is concerned with looking at how value in non-Western contemporary art is constructed largely by external political events and economic factors rather than aesthetic considerations. For instance, Dubai's political risk has increased markedly with the threat of a terrorist attack in the Emirate: this has repercussions for one of the world's newest art-market hubs and will undoubtedly affect the progress of prices for Middle Eastern and Indian art. The book also considers whether it is better to let a new art market grow organically, driven by commercial imperatives, or for the government to step in to construct a cultural and economic infrastructure within which an art market can be placed. Written accessibly and engagingly, the book presents emerging art-market scenarios that offer the collector, investor, speculator, observer and culturally interested individual an insight into where the new markets are and how they are likely to develop.