Chinartree

Cultural consultancies in the UAE - April 2009

PinkTank

Established in July 2008, PinkTank is the brainchild of Mitra Khoubrou and Daniel Camara, cultural consultants based in the UAE.  Although many of us may remember the pair as responsible for the Creek Art Fair 2008 (last year’s rendition of the Bastakiya Art Fair), the twosome originally met whilst working at the World Economic Forum in Geneva nine years ago. 

On moving to Dubai in 2005, they quickly became involved with cultural and research development projects with Dubai Holding and set about launching new initiatives such as ‘Moutamarat’ and the first ‘International Design forum’ in May 2007.

PinkTank was conceived as a continuation of this passion, a boutique consultancy focused on strategic planning and cultural development in the region.  Mitra explains, “We had always been interested in art, but more in relation to larger institutional platforms and what it means for the cultural scene in Dubai.  The name PinkTank is a clear reference to ‘think-tank’ and the ‘p’ stands for projects.”

Currently PinkTank has two main components.  The first is focused on its own projects, such as ‘Al Manakh,’ and the second is as a consultancy, helping other institutions with their own initiatives.  “Our consultancy side works with organizations, developing strategies as well as creating alliances for them with cultural bodies abroad.  What we bring in terms of added value is the research side of it and an international and regional network from our previous experiences.’

One such previous experience was working on the first ‘Al Manakh’ in 2007.  It was here that the pair first encountered Rem Koolhaas and a close friendship with the visionary subsequently developed.  This relationship, along with a continued interest in researching urban development and cultural priorities in the Gulf, led to the concept of ‘Al Manakh 2.’ 

“We recently created the website and started the interview process for Al Manakh 2.  The book will  be published by March 2010 and will look at the new set of priorities the Gulf is creating in light of the financial crisis.  It’s a long-term initiative involving a travelling exhibition and a number of debates, so it’s essentially a series of intellectual projects.” 

Whilst the economic downturn will be a key issue for Al Manakh 2, Mitra explains that the current crisis has not affected PinkTank’s ambitions.  “Our next step is focusing on knowledge generation, making sure projects and developments are documented and not lost.  We also want to continue the design agenda we had started with the International Design forum.’ 

Saba Art

Derived from the Iranian word ‘coming from (the queen of) Sheba,’ Saba art is a specialist art recruitment service, recently established in the UAE.  A joint venture by Suzete Sadr, based in Dubai and Sofia Urbina, based in London, the new company aims to fill the niche for regional art institutions looking to hire qualified professionals. 

Suzette explains, ‘Sofia and I started putting the idea together in October 2008 when we were looking at a similar service in London and thought, ‘why not bring it out here?’  Then it was simply a matter of setting up the company, which was surprisingly easy, and developing our website and database.’

Although only five weeks old, Saba art has already received a tremendous response in terms of requests for employment from galleries and art fairs in the UAE.  Saba art primarily facilitates the placement of individuals such as curators and art directors, to galleries and museums in the Middle-East. 

“Our main focus is in executive recruitment in placing really skilled people, which is where our expertise comes in as we have contacts in New York and London which we are able to filter through to the region.  We feel we can assist the institutions setting up here, such as the Guggenheim or the Louvre in gathering the right people to help them.”

As Suzete and Sofia initially hail from the US and the UK, many of their initial clients were from these countries, looking for new opportunities to work with art organizations in the Middle-East.  “There are people getting laid off everywhere at the moment, especially in the New York and London markets.  These people are highly qualified and more than willing to move to the Middle-East.”

Now, Suzete explains, the focus is also on the local and regional market and the plan is to expand their databases within the Middle-East.  “My next trips will be to Doha and to Abu Dhabi to make contact with the museums and authorities. Our services are very personal which is a very important aspect in the Middle-East.  We plan on continuing to build one-on-one relationships.”

Arthur Gueret Art Advisory

Arthur Guéret is the ‘principal’ of another brand new initiative in Dubai, this time an art advisory service, named after the founder himself.  Arthur completed an MA in contemporary art in Paris before working with art specialists in New York as an advisor.  He tells us how it was ‘Laurence of Arabia,’ with all its romanticised imagery that originally lured him to the Middle-East.

Eventually after researching art in the region, speaking with Brahim Alaoui from the L’Institut du Monde Arabe and discovering that the Louvre was setting up here, Arthur decided to follow suit and move to Dubai.  He single-handedly launched his company two months ago and explains to us the three different services it provides. 

“The first service is for occasional collectors, where we do market studies.  If they want to buy a Picasso or any established artist, we advise them according to the ‘Kunstkompass’ which is an analytic method using a point system.  We use a lot of internet tools to give them information about how artists perform at auctions and we furnish a two or three page advisory document for them.” 

The advisory service sees itself as solely working for the collectors, forging the link between the different layers of market.   It currently deals with both Western and Arab, modern and contemporary art and aims to always advise objectively in all its services.

“Our second service deals with clients looking for a specific art piece whereas our third is really the whole package.  This means collection management, advice evaluation and accompanying collectors to fairs and private previews of galleries.  This is very normal for art advisors in West but not so much here.”

Whilst Arthur has many established clients in Europe and the US, in Dubai he currently only has one.   He tells us how his brand believes in cultivating Arab collectors and the different challenges as well as advantages he anticipates to face. 

“I have a few friends who are locals and I have noticed that they really believe in the West, so it is easier when you are white and come from the West, which I find crazy!  With Arab collectors it’s about taking a new approach and accounting for different tastes.  I also want to focus more on Arab artists”  

Ultimately Arthur believes that, “A major part of what we do educating the client and in this way it really can be life-changing.”

PinkTank FZ-LLC, Dubai Media City, PO BOX 72280, Dubai, United Arab Emirates,   T  + 971 4 321 7114

Saba Art, Ras Al Khaimah, P.O. Box 10055, United Arab Emirates, T: +971 (0)4 430 6931

Arthur Gueret Art Advisory, 712 The Fairmont Hotel Sheikh Zayed Road, P.O Box 65736, Dubai, UAE, T: +971 (0)4 304 2536