As the daughter of a famous French auctioneer, Garance Massart initially resisted working in the art world. But she eventually cut a niche for herself advising individual and corporate clients on art purchases. Ms Massart, who splits her time between Switzerland, where she is based, and Dubai, where she owns property, speaks about how she transformed a hobby of collecting art into a career.
You started collecting art when you were 18. That is quite a young age, is it not?
Since I was 18 my presents have always been artworks and I just continued. My mother, Marie France Massart, was the first woman auctioneer in France.
How many pieces do you own now?
Over 100. But there are some things that are very valuable and some things that are not valuable.
What is your most valuable work?
I sold it. [It was by Anselm] Kiefer. A lot of people didn't like it. It was dark red and brown with dried-up flowers. I was worried they were going to fall off. I quadrupled my money.
How much did you sell it for?
Almost €1 million (Dh4.6m).
You have also made a career out of your hobby. How?
I was against working in the art world because my mother had just done so much. I didn't want to be a dealer. I didn't want to be an auctioneer. I didn't want to have a gallery … so I started advising. Now I am doing corporate art programmes.
How do you choose artworks for a company?
You try to find the mission and the vision of the company and the philosophy and the culture. And you try to find a programme that fits in with what they want; yet you find good art.
Are you doing anything here?
I am working on that. We are very far from a green light. If it happens, it will be huge. At the moment we are doing a corporation in Germany where we are working with Middle Eastern artists.
Do you prefer to work with companies or people?
It's a lot more work and a lot less money [with companies] because the time invested is a lot longer, but [it is] much more fulfilling, because I site specific artworks. If I buy for a private client, I go to a fair or an auction. There's no creative process. What I am doing now is I am creating the art programme. I am the curator of that building.
Why would a business collect art and show art?
For reputation and for acquiring new clients - for many reasons: to be innovative, to be on the brink of the future, to be different from others, to stand out from your competitors and to have a better environment for your employees. It has been proven that art in the work environment increases the work ethic. Companies that have artworks have employees who are happier and work better. That's why a lot of companies are doing it now.
* Gillian Duncan
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
Smart words at Make Smart Cool
Make Smart Cool is not your usual festival. Dubbed “edutainment” by organisers Najahi Events, Make Smart Cool aims to inspire its youthful target audience through a mix of interactive presentation by social media influencers and a concert finale featuring Example with DJ Wire. Here are some of the speakers sharing their inspiration and experiences on the night.
Prince Ea
With his social media videos accumulating more half a billion views, the American motivational speaker is hot on the college circuit in the US, with talks that focus on the many ways to generate passion and motivation when it comes to learning.
Khalid Al Ameri
The Emirati columnist and presenter is much loved by local youth, with writings and presentations about education, entrepreneurship and family balance. His lectures on career and personal development are sought after by the education and business sector.
Ben Ouattara
Born to an Ivorian father and German mother, the Dubai-based fitness instructor and motivational speaker is all about conquering fears and insecurities. His talk focuses on the need to gain emotional and physical fitness when facing life’s challenges. As well managing his film production company, Ouattara is one of the official ambassadors of Dubai Expo2020.
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Honeymoonish
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