Jeffar Khaldi's The Infinite and Beyond. Courtesy The Auction Room
Jeffar Khaldi's The Infinite and Beyond. Courtesy The Auction Room

On the heels of a successful Middle Eastern Contemporary Art auction, the curator talks about the position of the Arab market



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.”

Headline news was the sale of Hayv Kahraman's oil painting Flaying the Lamb, which went, says Rady, for more than a work from the same series at Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction in Doha last year. That created headlines at the time by going for double its list price of US$60,000 (Dh220,377) – so why doesn't The Auction Room celebrate its big sellers in the same way, by revealing the selling prices?

“We find that buyers and sellers don’t necessarily want people to know the price tag,” explains Rady. “Galleries don’t publish their results when they sell a work, so why should auction houses? Really, it’s only the press that get worked up about publishing the results. We’re just happy that it indicates the market for Kahraman’s work is incredibly strong. She’s a fantastic artist, it’s as simple as that.”

Kahraman, who is represented by The Third Line gallery in Dubai, is in many ways the success of the contemporary Middle Eastern art scene in microcosm. Technically beautiful, her work can be read on many political, feminist, social and religious levels. Shortlisted for the ­Jameel Prize in 2011, Flaying the Lamb was also in Saatchi Gallery's critically acclaimed ­Unveiled exhibition – as was work from many other artists in the auction, including the Dubai residents Rokni and Ramin Haerizadeh. Five years on, it's tempting to suggest that Saatchi's survey, subtitled New Art from the Middle East, was a turning point.

"The Saatchi exhibition was very carefully curated," agrees Rady. "Almost all the artists have gone on to do very well, because they got that reputation from Unveiled. Who knows? The exhibition Here and Elsewhere that's just finished at New York's New Museum, may have the same impact in years to come. Big group exhibitions are still really important to the development of Middle Eastern art."

Rady mirrored that same sense of careful ­curation for the auction. It’s not, she says, about being a clearing house for “stuff” that’s for sale, but choosing works that are impactful, accessible and have a strong message.

“It’s why we had 42 lots when we could have had more than 80,” she says. “But I think with Arab artists in particular, it’s important to celebrate what they’re really good at.

“Time and time again, the artists tell me they are storytellers and they have passions they want to express in art. Growing up in a war-torn country or living with restrictions about what they can do – it’s what makes their work very powerful.”

So the auction struck an encouraging note for the future of contemporary Middle Eastern art. Rady is cautiously pleased by how the market is maturing into 2015.

“I would say there possibly isn’t as much interest from the West as there was two or three years ago, but that’s fine,” she says.

“You have contemporary art in Dubai from the diaspora artists such as Rokni and Ramin Haerizadeh. There are young Arab street artists, political artists, Arab modern artists, and the Middle Eastern collectors themselves are really focusing on modern and contemporary works.

“The market is layering – and then you get someone like Hassan Hajjaj, who is really taking off, doing extraordinary work.”

Or the “Andy Warhol of Marrakech”, as he’s been dubbed.

One thing’s for sure, Middle Eastern artists are now enjoying much more than 15 minutes of fame.

www.theauctionroom.com

www.janetradyfineart.com

artslife@thenational.ae

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Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

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The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

Key facilities
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

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The biog

Siblings: five brothers and one sister

Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota

Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym

Favourite place: UAE

Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera

What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books

Three ways to boost your credit score

Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:

1. Make sure you make your payments on time;

2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;

3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.

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Profile of Tarabut Gateway

Founder: Abdulla Almoayed

Based: UAE

Founded: 2017

Number of employees: 35

Sector: FinTech

Raised: $13 million

Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

The Case For Trump

By Victor Davis Hanson
 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Need to know

When: October 17 until November 10

Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration

Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center

What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.

For more information: www.koreafestivaluae.com

Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds  

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

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Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

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Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

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Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Price: Dh601,800

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”