Why art could be a good investment during pandemic
File photo
Market share of online sales for art in 2020 exceeded that of general retail.
The market value of global art decreased significantly in 2020 over the previous year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Art and antique sales value worldwide dropped from over $64 billion in 2019 to a little over $50 billion in 2020, a whopping 22 per cent decline, states The Art Market 2021 report published recently by Art Basel and UBS. The steep drop is because of the cancelled auctions and in-person events.
However, on a positive note the art market’s share of online commerce in 2020 exceeded that of general retail with art market sellers doing fully one-quarter of their business online at $12.4 billion (outstripping the 18 per cent share for retail generally). That number is up from just 9 per cent in 2019. If we compare this with previous year, online sales figures for art had taken the previous six years to double.
Dubai resident makes a Guinness World Record attempt
Joydeep Sen Gupta/Dubai
Photo/Juidin Bernarrd
She made the attempt with the largest number of origami maple leaves.
Shivali Johri Srivastava, a final-year student of computer science and engineering (CSE) in Andhra Pradesh’s GITAM University, and her parents Kavita and Anil jointly secured their 12th Guinness World Record for the largest display of 1,993 origami maple leaves. This was also the highest number of Guinness records held by a single family in Hyderabad.
Cut to Dubai on February 28, 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Kaavya Mohana Sundaram, an information technology (IT) project manager at Heriot-Watt University’s Dubai Knowledge Park/Knowledge Village campus, makes a valiant bid to beat this Guinness World Record. She has made 2031 origami maple leaves, which awaits Guinness’s stamp of approval for the largest display. “The maple leaf is a symbol of hope. I wanted to share the feeling of hope wit
(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Shan Fazelbhoy s creative pursuits embody her passion for personal space. Fazelbhoy, a Pakistani national and a trained artist in traditional art forms such as oils, watercolours and pastels, embodies Dubai s multiculturalism and a celebration of life in its myriad joyful hues.
Born in Delhi, raised in what was Bombay then and Mumbai now, Fazelbhoy s cross-border marriage took her to Karachi, Pakistan, in the mid-1980s. She lived in Pakistan for the next 13 years. She moved to Dubai, where she learnt découpage, in 1999 and has been living here ever since.
She also came in contact with acclaimed educator Nayyar Jamil during her stay in Karachi, who left an indelible mark on her life.
Joydeep Sen Gupta Filed on February 18, 2021
Shan Fazelbhoy’s creative pursuits embody her passion for personal space. Fazelbhoy, a Pakistani national and a trained artist in traditional art forms such as oils, watercolours and pastels, embodies Dubai’s multiculturalism and a celebration of life in its myriad joyful hues.
Born in Delhi, raised in what was Bombay then and Mumbai now, Fazelbhoy’s cross-border marriage took her to Karachi, Pakistan, in the mid-1980s. She lived in Pakistan for the next 13 years. She moved to Dubai, where she learnt découpage, in 1999 and has been living here ever since.
She also came in contact with acclaimed educator Nayyar Jamil during her stay in Karachi, who left an indelible mark on her life.