Economic woe can't take the shine off Colombia's art trade

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Colombia, at the north-western tip of South America, boasts one of the continent's most vibrant and evolving art markets. It is centred on Bogotá, the capital city high in the mountains, where around 40 commercial art galleries, dozens of museums and Artbo, the annual international fair, have coalesced to create one of Latin America's most important cultural hubs.

International interest in Colombian art has been on the rise since 2008, according to Paula Bossa, the curator and director at Bogotá's Casas Riegner, a gallery dedicated to contemporary art. She says that improvements in national security after decades of strife have allowed visitors to feel safer travelling around the country, and a talented generation of Colombian curators who have worked abroad have raised awareness about Colombian artists. Colombian galleries taking part in high-profile international art fairs have also attracted (and retained) crucial collectors and media attention, Bossa adds.

Despite this progress, market demand for art in the country has lagged. "Colombia has an incredible art scene that has traditionally been producing artists who work outside of the market, because we have a very precarious art market," Bossa says. "Because the artists have often been producing work without the market in mind, we have such fresh, interesting artistic production in this country."

Obstacles to overcome

A relatively weak economy and political instability have traditionally posed challenges to the Colombian art market, and the November 2023 edition of Artbo was no exception. One week before the fair opened, the value of the Colombian peso fell sharply on news that the country's economy had declined in the third quarter, marking the first year-on-year contraction since 2020. Gubernatorial, mayoral and other candidates from the coalition of President Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist to hold the post, largely lost their races in last October's elections, including for the mayor of Bogotá, one of the most powerful political offices in the country. Many saw the results as a referendum on Petro's first year in office, which included the implementation of a wealth tax and the introduction of a larger set of tax reforms set to take effect this month.

"The market is very conservative in Colombia," says Katy Hernández, the director of Galería Espacio Continuo, a contemporary dealership in Bogotá, adding that the conservatism is both political and fiscal. "Money-wise, the fair wasn't a successful project this year. The Colombian market has a limited budget to invest in art. We obviously have some collectors that have the capacity to spend really important money on artwork, but I wouldn't say we have a lot of those."

Bossa says: "This fair took place in a market that is super challenging. And the fact that the fair was smaller than in previous years speaks a lot to that." Only 33 exhibitors took part in Artbo in 2023, compared with around 70 before the pandemic. Some Colombians are also more cautious with their spending in the wake of Petro's policy agenda, she adds.

More than meets the eye

However, some nuance is required in assessing the Colombian economy's effect on the nation's art market. On one hand, the peso remains weak against the dollar, limiting the purchasing power of domestic buyers. On the other hand, the peso was still stronger during the 2023 edition of Artbo than during the last months of the preceding conservative government, according to Andrés Moreno, the director of the Bogotá-based contemporary gallery Casa Hoffmann. Nor did the outcome of the recent regional elections radically alter exchange rates (apart from some speculative fluctuations prior to the final results), he says.

"It has been challenging to accept different policy approaches in a historically conservative country," Moreno says. "Nevertheless, the ongoing reforms are consistent with the measures a member country of the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] should take."

Although dealers say some wealthier Colombians have left the country over concerns about Petro's economic policies, many, if not most, galleries remain sanguine about the state of their collector base. "We work with what we have, and we wouldn't let this kind of speculation get in the way," says Sofía Aguilar Rojas, Casa Hoffmann's curatorial and managing assistant. She adds that Colombian galleries' competitive prices for high-quality art appeal to Colombians working overseas and earning wages in other currencies, particularly US dollars.

Multiple large sales

In fact, a number of galleries that participated in the most recent Artbo reported selling more works at higher price points than in previous years. Leon Tovar, who founded his eponymous gallery in Bogotá before relocating to New York in 2012, said in the early hours of the fair he was "surprised" to have already made multiple large sales.

"Today, the market is getting soft, like in every part of the planet," Tovar said at the time. "Colombia is still very solid, a small country with a large society of productions and industry. We have mining, coffee, petroleum—everything. And we have a big force of human resources. Now we are in a weak period, but I think we will survive into the future."

Much of Colombia's art has been informed by decades of violence at the hands of guerrilla movements, paramilitary groups and drug cartels

Many dealers echo the sentiment that selling contemporary art in Colombia can be a struggle for reasons beyond the country's economic and political woes. Much of Colombia's art has been informed by decades of violence at the hands of left-wing guerrilla movements, right-wing paramilitary groups and powerful drug cartels. More challenging contemporary works are often less commercially popular, dealers say, while the domestic market for Modern art enjoys more stable demand.

"It's very tough, because there's a very traditional notion of what art is, although that has started to change," Bossa says. "Contemporary art is very hermetic sometimes, very complex to understand, and getting people to get excited about it in itself is a huge challenge. But we're slowly getting there. There's a young generation of collectors that are starting to pay really close attention to contemporary art and are very excited about it. That is a sign of hope."