Art dealers shift focus to Gulf buyers amid global sales slump

As global art sales tumble, the oil-rich Gulf is emerging as the industry's new frontier, with heavyweights like Art Basel making their regional debut in Qatar to tap into a surge of cultural investment.

"The second you land here, you see the ambition. It's basically the future," Andisheh Avini of Gagosian Gallery told AFP at the Doha fair.

With sales in Europe and North America down 12 percent in 2024, dealers are chasing new audiences. "We see a lot of potential," Avini added.

Billions in cultural spending

Gulf states are pouring billions into museums to diversify their economies.

Saudi Arabia has invested over $21.6 billion in culture since 2016, while Qatar's museums authority spends roughly $1 billion annually on art. "We felt the time was right," said Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz.

A new era for arab art Palestinian artist Hazem Harb displayed keys symbolizing those lost in the 1948 Nakba alongside a 3D-printed replica of his own destroyed Gaza apartment.

"There is a kind of revolution in the Arab world right now," Harb said. "A new era, about culture, about art."