"Going Global": Art & Giving Trends in African and Europe

I spent 2019 in South Africa, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Sicily, France, England and Malta, researching the arts and philanthropic sectors. (It's true - (with a good Wifi signal) you CAN work from anywhere. More on that in a future post.)

Meeting with artists, gallerists, museum leadership, philanthropists, collectors, and government officials revealed some important questions and trends:

As work by artists from the African diaspora continue to rise in prominence and value, local curators and journalists on the continent asking questions such as, “Do the African-based art fairs appropriately and adequately represent these artists and work?”; “Do these local iterations of a global phenomenon create enough momentum for a strong homegrown sector?; and, “How do we create a strong base of support for local work?” (See this UPDATE February 2020.)
International institutions continue to look to the U.S. as the model of private arts philanthropy, and continue to focus on fundraising from American donors. How will issues of ethical philanthropy impact this trend? With philanthropy is under scrutiny worldwide, European and African organizations are especially uneasy about how these” take downs” will impact their ability to raise funds from the small number of leading global cultural philanthropists.
As public giving is decreasing in Europe, institutions are quickly ramping up efforts to create a culture of giving in societies that rely on the State for cultural support. Much of this work includes informing audiences about the realities of public and private giving, previously unknown.
Brexit was on top of mind in 2019, as galleries and institutions looked at their European plans and outposts. With it a reality, questions still continue about how art centers, tax codes, philanthropy and collecting evolve. While raising money has not been a priority in the U.K,. and as British culture has a complicated relationship with notions of wealth, development departments at cultural institutions are now looking at how to best accelerate their efforts.

Selection of organizations, galleries, spaces, NGOs:

melissa wolfJanuary 17, 2020

Expanding the next generation of cultural philanthropists, advocates, and audiences

"Going Global": Art & Giving Trends in African and Europe