Innovation and digital technology are transforming the way we see and perform Culture, we are witnessing a veritable metamorphosis of the art world.
Our daily lives suffer, probably, the biggest change since the industrial revolution, the world changes and we are obliged to accompany this new order. It would be common sense to say that the digital age imposes itself to the art world and the economy of culture, contradicting that which is truly “unnatural”.
However, we believe that the greatest challenge will inevitably be to know how to effectively and efficiently use all the techniques and strategies in the virtual universe. Art is becoming more democratic and acquiring an international dimension never before observed.
The use of the Internet has raised several questions related to the essence of creativity and the artist himself. In all cases, digital progress turns art and artists known in circles where, until then, they might have been unknown or gone unnoticed. Today, the vast majority of institutions connecting to the art world (museums, galleries, art schools, among others) are convinced of the vital importance of ensuring their transition to the digital age.
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In this regard, we consider that it is inevitable to bring art to the final consumer through services based on technological innovations, whether it be private, corporate or institutional.
It is with this in mind that we defend the incorporation, concerning skills, of a new category into the functional organization chart of galleries, exhibition platforms or art transactions: the “community manager”.
If we take into account, for example, that the Google Arts & Culture platform today offers more than 57,000 works online, and opens the door to museums and galleries without forgetting the thousands of events that take place at every instant in the world, then we will all agree that we are witnessing a veritable metamorphosis of the art world.
In order to support this “vision” we invite you to observe the impact of “Creative Commons”; the Creative Commons (CC) license is one of the many public copyright licenses that allow the free distribution of a “work” otherwise protected by copyright. A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use and develop a work that he (the author) has created.
The result? In ten years, 400 million artworks have been shared by their authors, showing the dynamism of this license. In a transversal manner, all the participants and agents within this sector began to realize the potential of this new license, perfectly suitable for the democratisation of art.
One of the main characteristics of these new tools is the condition of increased access to the online artistic offerings, and therefore the facilitation of the business environment.
In the same way, the artist uses the Internet as a tool to disseminate his work and give a different commercial breadth to these artworks and artistic acts.
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Thus we can say that it is consensual to consider that a digital platform clearly offers a bigger range of possibilities, both to create and to democratise art, as well as to benefit from it, either directly for the author, or for the whole chain of value of a certain artwork or object.
Selling art online thus seems to have become a real “Eldorado” for art market players, a good diversification strategy for large players and a “middle-market” sales opportunity for emerging players who , using innovative concepts, specialise themselves in the sale of works between € 1,000 and € 50,000.
This is the case of Art Gallery by CCIPS, which offers the dematerialised sale of art objects, in particular of African origin, while ensuring security of purchase thanks to a large network of experts who authenticate all the objects offered on the platform. Taking a good look at digital technology and as a summary of our reflection concerning this authentic metamorphosis of concepts, we can safely state two things: that business continues, regardless of the crisis; and that the average observer has never before enjoyed greater visibility in the art market and their costs.
These are inherently good and positive things.
Thank you for your best attention
Gonçalo Terenas
President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Cultural Promotion Portugal – Senegal & West Africa (CCIPS), Board Member of Economic Consultative Council of the Embassy of Portugal in Dakar – Senegal, Member of Portuguese Diaspora Council since April 2017
