Mahboubeh Kazemi Doulabi Talks about Baran Auction and Iran’s art market after Covid-19
TEHRAN –(Iranart) - The founder and manager of Taraneh Baran Gallery and Baran Auction explained the art situation in Coronavirus days.
Here is the selection of her interview :
-Coronavirus has greatly damaged art and made artists’ lives difficult and it is getting deteriorated. I think this situation continues and the government should take drastic measures because many artistic jobs will be removed soon.
-The first issue of the economy in art is the systematic view in which all officials should view art as an important economical factor. In this regard, many economics of the world are based on art. Given Iran has many artists and valuable industries can boost the economy. I had research on art and wealth and I found that domestic wealth is not enough and exporting is needed as well. We should take this approach for handicrafts and other visual arts so as to enhance the art economy.
In doing so, organizations and institutions can do extensive promotions for our art products in the world. An ecosystem should be formed to recognize art as a crucial part of the economy. Then, solutions are made which improve our economy and increase investments. Besides that, events like auctions, art fairs, and expo can lead to more wealth creation and added value. All of this can also influence our macroeconomics too.
-An entrepreneur always has unique solutions. Entrepreneurship is not an acquired feature. It is an inherent trait inside some people and causes everyone to have her/his own way of entrepreneurship and see the opportunities which others cannot see.
Entrepreneurs are the only solution in coronavirus and post-coronavirus days. These people can help governments in special occasions in changing the tough economic situation to a better one. In the last three months which we were off, I conducted a lot of researches and I understood that entrepreneurs are the most cost-effective solutions to get over this situation.
-Social damage like an ailment may result in economic collapse and it affects all occupations. In these cases, although those who have big occupations face the biggest damage, many pay attention to those who are weaker and try to meet their basic needs. Those who have bigger jobs are dealing with larger labor and if day faces any damage, the labor is damaged as well. So, manufacturers should be active in order to support labor. It is the same in art and the main factors should be identified. The most important part of the art economy is gallery owners because each gallery can support tens of artists.
When an economic collapse has occurred, the first phenomenon is decreasing the support of artists and art sellers increase. Many artists in this situation sell their valuable artworks to make living and this causes turmoil in the art market and changing the value of the artworks. In this situation, buyers become the main determiner and can decrease the price of artworks because of the rise in the supply.
Besides these damages, some people buy artworks in the long term during a tough economic situation as it has the lowest risk. It takes a long term for this happening to occur but it causes a lot of difficulties in the short term. But in the end, there will be good growth in art. Calligraphy which is connected to our civilization and is known in museums and the global community is one of the best investments with the highest growth rate.
-We have plans for the fifth Baran Auction but still, we do not know how the health and the economic situation go at the time of our annual auction. There are possibilities of an online auction but some manuscript artworks needed to be checked in person by some and also online auctions have not been successful so far. We hope to choose the best solution for problems and we are seeking for a solution which has the most economical and social influence.
We have also planned for the Taraneh Baran gallery and considered the starting of our plans after September. In coronavirus days all occupations were damaged as well as galleries. But the government acted disappointing and it seems that it does not pay attention to art at all. Although Coronavirus made a tough economic situation for artists, it helped them to create many artworks. Many artworks also were made and these are capitals of the art field. Now it’s time for galleries to start their activities with peace of mind and enough support and present the artworks.