Wealth advisers renowned for sponsoring art shows to attract clients are starting to use them to attract the attention of individuals from booming emerging markets.
UK wealth manager Barclays Wealth has boosted this initiative by announcing a sponsorship deal with two contemporary Indian art exhibitions.Fresh from its sponsorship of tennis tournament the ATP World Tour Finals, it will sponsor two Indian exhibitions in London, ‘The Mother Teresa Series’ by M.F.Husain and ‘The Five Rays of Raza’ by S.H.Raza.
These will be showcased at Barclays Wealth’s Brook Street offices on 10th and 11th December and then move to the Mayfair gallery of Tanya Baxter Contemporary and Kings Road Gallery until 31st January 2010.The bank said: “A recent change is that whilst Indian art had been bought almost entirely by Indian collectors (mainly based outside India), it is now increasingly being collected by non-Indians.”
Elswhere, HSBC Private Bank has hosted a lunch to launch The Connection Collection by Israeli-born European designer Arik Levy, which will be showcased at Design Miami/, the International art fair, next week. Following Design Miami/, Arik Levy’s installation will be displayed at HSBC Private Bank offices in Geneva.
Tony Joyce, global head of marketing at HSBC Private Bank, said: “Our clients are increasingly interested in important design and our research has shown that they support our partnership with the Design Miami/ events.”German Deutsche Bank said it had signed a five-year sponsorship contract with ART HK, the three year old Hong Kong-based art fair.
ART HK will take place from May 27 to May 30 next year and expects over 110 galleries from 24 countries to attend. It was originally sponsored by defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers for its debut in 2008. This year it had no lead sponsor.
“Our sponsorship of ART HK reflects the importance and the growth of Deutsche Bank’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region,” the bank. “The successes of ART HK in 2008 and 2009 show the high demand for a world-class art fair in the region.” Ernst & Young, the accountants, are sponsoring the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Maharaja exhibition until January 2010, featuring a collection of exquisite artifacts from the 18th to 20th century Indian royal courts.
US bank Morgan Stanley last year backed the China’s Terracotta Army exhibition, showcasing a number of famous terracotta warriors from the Qin dynasty in 220 BC China, at the British Museum.
Source – Tara Loader Wilkinson
