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Arts & Communication Transnational mobility and art market centers

intermediary place, which had a 20 – 25 history of sparked an art-buying spree in the 2000s. These collections
contemporary art... And when I decided to stay, attained further visibility when the Museum of Islamic Art
Istanbul Modern was opening, many galleries were was launched in 2008 and the Mathaf: Arab Museum of
opening, Istanbul was about to be the European Modern Art opened in 2010 (Figure 2).
Capital of Culture. There seemed to be a lot of The royal family members initiating these spectacular
energy and new projects starting (Interview with purchases are themselves highly mobile individuals who
Julie Upmeyer in 2012). spend a significant portion of their time abroad and have

This statement illustrates how foot-voting operates. often studied in other countries. Hassan bin Mohammed
Hypermobile artists such as Julie Upmeyer, who holds a bin Ali Al Thani was inspired by his travels to London and
U.S. passport, can easily choose places to relocate because Arab cultural centers such as Cairo and began collecting
their passports are strong. Initially, Upmeyer came to modern Arab art. Sheikha Al Mayassa heads Qatar
Istanbul for a short-term residency. Her subsequent Museums: she studied in the United States and France and
decision to settle in Istanbul long-term and establish resides in both New York and Doha.
Caravansarai involved significant investment including The national collecting process of Qatar was formalized
buying property and setting up a self-sustaining business. only after the first museums were inaugurated and the
This residency program provided other artists a platform Qatar Museums were institutionalized. This institution-
that allowed them to come to the city, experiment, and building was facilitated by the expertise transported to
engage with the local art scene. Upmeyer’s decision to Qatar by an influx of foreign art professionals. Curators
establish Caravansarai in Istanbul augmented the image were recruited for these institutions and a dedicated
of the city as an emerging art center. Her presence and acquisitions department was established in Qatar
the activities of Caravansarai attracted other artists and Museums. This department was staffed with professionals
art professionals to Istanbul, creating a dynamic art who had accrued experience at renowned art market
community. Further, Upmeyer served as an interlocutor entities in the U.S. and Europe. Thus, systematic purchases
for many people engaged in exploring Istanbul’s art scene, were enabled based on the needs of collections established
promoting the city’s potential, and adding to its growing by various cultural institutions. 71
reputation.
A Qatar Museums employee responsible for strategy
4. Doha: Hypermobile art buyers and their explained why the institution recruits highly mobile
aids professionals:
Given that we want to create world-standard
Doha’s local art market is less dynamic than the other cities museums, we recruit the best in their fields... In
discussed in this article: the city houses few galleries and hosts Qatar, we have to think on a planetary scale.
no major art fairs. Nevertheless, Doha wields an undeniable When we recruit, we are not going to recruit only
influence on the global art market. Sheikha Al Mayassa in Qatar... If we search for an Islamic art curator,
69
bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani headed ArtReview’s Power we do our shopping everywhere in the world
100 list in 2013. This positioning reflected her expenditure (Interview with manager at Qatar Museums).
of an estimated $1 billion on art and evidenced her immense
impact on the art world. The Qatari royal family’s record- Edward Dolman, the CEO of Christie’s from 1999
breaking purchases include artworks such as Paul Cézanne’s to 2011, was one particularly notable recruitment that
“The Card Players,” which was bought for more than $250
million. Such art procurements have established new
benchmarks and influenced entire sectors of the art market,
notably Islamic art.
The extensive art acquisitions of the Qatari royal
family prepared the groundwork for the construction
of pioneering institutions that have structured the local
art landscape of Doha and enabled the city to become a
key international player. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
70
initiated a movement to transform Doha into a knowledge
economy center when he assumed power in 1995. Qatar
Museums was established a decade later to lead the creation
of new cultural institutions. The planning of new museums Figure 2. Mathaf. Source: Photograph by the author, 2018

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.3734