Radio 4 ran a report from the Frieze Art Fair earlier today, discussing the impact of the recession on the contemporary art market. While the dealers were bluff and confident in their assertion that sales are robust, commentator Louise Bluck was more believable, saying that attendance was high but people were looking at not buying. Damien Hirst’s solo auction at Sotheby’s may have raised £111million only a month ago, but he is an exception, and no conclusions can be drawn about the contemporary art market as a whole.
Some commentators are suggesting that art is a particularly attractive investment right now. Like gold you own something with an integral value, and you’re not at the mercy of fat cats or having your funds frozen, lost or disappeared by some bank’s mishandling your investment. However, all but the biggest collector’s have little chance of making a significant profit from owning art, and the buyer’s should still beware of investing for profit rather than love. An article from The Independent, written in 2002 titled, Beware art for profit’s sake, seems as relevant today.
I have been searching the internet to try and find some research that gives an indication on how arts attendance, might fare during the recession. I must say I can’t find much, except that recession seems to be good news for cinema. During the depression of the 1930s, cinema attendance grew hugely. The assumption seems to from the 30s to today, that cinema attendance is cheap, and therefore becomes more attractive when money is tight. Some commentators add that cinema is escapist entertainment and so it’s exactly what people are looking for when they are finding their day-to-day difficult. Across Wales cinema attendance has been up this summer, and while they agree that people look to cinema to cheer them up during gloomy times, the gloomy times in this instance could also be the terrible, washout we experienced this summer.
What I can’t find at the moment is more detailed information about theatre or music attendance during recession, and I think this informaiton would be really useful right now. Arts organisations need to be preparing for the next few turbulent years, and the ones who take a measure, strategic and planned approach will have the best chance of flourishing through the recession. If you have any relevant research you can share, or links to useful publications on this matter, please leave them as comments and if there are enough I’ll create a set of links bringing the research together. Please comment with your thoughts and comments too.
In the meantime I thought I’d leave with another resource form my new favourite Arts Marketing blog, ArtsMarket. This ones entitled Audience Development in a Recession Economy and is full of tips for successful audience development in time so economic uncertainty.
See my new post, The recession starts to bite, for ongoing dicussion of this topic.
What impact will the impending recession have on the arts?
Radio 4 ran a report from the Frieze Art Fair earlier today, discussing the impact of the recession on the contemporary art market. While the dealers were bluff and confident in their assertion that sales are robust, commentator Louise Bluck was more believable, saying that attendance was high but people were looking at not buying. Damien Hirst’s solo auction at Sotheby’s may have raised £111million only a month ago, but he is an exception, and no conclusions can be drawn about the contemporary art market as a whole.
Some commentators are suggesting that art is a particularly attractive investment right now. Like gold you own something with an integral value, and you’re not at the mercy of fat cats or having your funds frozen, lost or disappeared by some bank’s mishandling your investment. However, all but the biggest collector’s have little chance of making a significant profit from owning art, and the buyer’s should still beware of investing for profit rather than love. An article from The Independent, written in 2002 titled, Beware art for profit’s sake, seems as relevant today.
I have been searching the internet to try and find some research that gives an indication on how arts attendance, might fare during the recession. I must say I can’t find much, except that recession seems to be good news for cinema. During the depression of the 1930s, cinema attendance grew hugely. The assumption seems to from the 30s to today, that cinema attendance is cheap, and therefore becomes more attractive when money is tight. Some commentators add that cinema is escapist entertainment and so it’s exactly what people are looking for when they are finding their day-to-day difficult. Across Wales cinema attendance has been up this summer, and while they agree that people look to cinema to cheer them up during gloomy times, the gloomy times in this instance could also be the terrible, washout we experienced this summer.
What I can’t find at the moment is more detailed information about theatre or music attendance during recession, and I think this informaiton would be really useful right now. Arts organisations need to be preparing for the next few turbulent years, and the ones who take a measure, strategic and planned approach will have the best chance of flourishing through the recession. If you have any relevant research you can share, or links to useful publications on this matter, please leave them as comments and if there are enough I’ll create a set of links bringing the research together. Please comment with your thoughts and comments too.
In the meantime I thought I’d leave with another resource form my new favourite Arts Marketing blog, ArtsMarket. This ones entitled Audience Development in a Recession Economy and is full of tips for successful audience development in time so economic uncertainty.
See my new post, The recession starts to bite, for ongoing dicussion of this topic.
Posted by Caroline Griffin on October 15, 2008 in Audience development
Tags: audiences, comment, Ideas, News, recession