INDIAN ART LACKS A PROPER ART MARKET ECO SYSTEM

India, Republic of (Press Release) September 4, 2007 -- Art is the new buzz word, the new trendy indulgence accessible to the casual viewer, the investment seeker & serious art collector. The interest in art is at an all time high & almost all seem to be jumping on to the bandwagon to have a piece of the cake. Understandably so, as art has given the maximum Return on Investment as compared to any other asset class. However, the market is not without it’s set of challenges, for eg. Artists, aware of the trend in the art market, produce overpriced works which lack content & depth; the emergence of Art Funds, which have pumped money into art as an ‘asset class’ have a real danger of quickly and artificially increasing the price; relatively new artists are commanding a level of price that has gone up too quickly & too fast; the lack of transperancy in the way the auction market & the Art Galleries function; the lack of buyer sophistication in the Indian Market, which has seen the surge of investors rather than art collectors and last but not the least a severe dearth of spaces where artists can exhibit their works.

Most importantly what the Indian Art Market lacks is a proper art market eco system which addresses issues like Art Insurance, Authentication, Art Valuation, State of the Art Restoration & Ware Housing facilities which are altogether missing or in their infancy.

Well, help may just be at hand, with a site called www.smartnu.com (smART & U) which addresses these problems. It is an art communication portal and e-magazine to facilitate the art community, where the market dynamics of demand & supply will govern prices as against price manipulation by any individual or groups. This site provides a comprehensive information on Art News, Art Events, Art Advisory, Art related services like Insurance, Warehousing, Courier, Framers etc and also a platform to bring the buyer & seller of art in direct contact with each other enabling them to transact directly & privately without the need to pay commissions ! This is the first site of it’s kind that the Indian Art Market is seeing.

smART & U also promotes promising & upcoming artists who don’t have a platform to exhibit, by providing them the space to exhibit & sell their works. In addition they are also involved in promoting art through Cultural Camps to nurture art talent and support it under the umbrella of the Smart & U Visual Arts Foundation.

It may not be there yet, but the site has set a precedent for all others to emulate….i.e., providing the Indian Art Market & Art Lovers a proper Art Market Ecosystem, which is the need of the hour !

For additional information, log on to www.smartnu.com