The business of culture: how entrepreneurs and artists tap international markets

Art continuous to defy classification, as new forms blend traditional and contemporary genres. A range of business opportunities also opens up for art traders, galleries, museums, curators, collectors and educators.

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In this edition, we feature some of the art works from China exhibited in the galleries of Singapore.

In the earlier 160 posts, we brought you a wide range of creative photographs from a cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, art gallery, climate change expo, street art festival, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, Vesak, millets fair, and jazz festival.

Across the ages, through centuries of cooperation and conflict, art forms have moved around the world. As a central hub in Asia, Singapore is home to galleries of art from China, India, Southeast Asia and the West. With regular exhibits and workshops, art has become both an inner expression and international business.

Entrepreneurs, artists and traders participate in and organise art fairs, thus matchmaking buyers and sellers across the region. A lot of art discovery and buying takes place via online platforms these days, but cultural centres still play a key role in the world of art.

“Art leaps across boundaries of history, geography and genre,” said Shirley He, director of the gallery Images of China, in a chat with YourStory. The gallery sources art from China, and many buyers come from India as well, she said.

In this photo essay, we feature some of the art works from her gallery as well as others such as the The Arts House, Liuli Gallery, Asian Museum of Civilisation, ION Orchard Gallery, and YellowKorner. They include tapestries, watercolours, glasswork, photographs, ceramics, paintings, sketches and mixed media installations. By way of context, fascinating maps also show the spread of Buddhism from India to China, and the ancient shipping routes from China to India.

Now what have you done lately to immerse and inspire in art forms around the world?

Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!

See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.