The world of art is decidedly more polycentric today than it was in the 20th century when Paris and New York held sway. Today all continents present a dizzying array of new museums, galleries, high profile Art fairs, biennales, kunsthalles, summits, residencies and an assortment of established and emerging auction houses.

How does this phenomenal development affect production, sale and purchase of art here at home?

New art in Pakistan is a product of the times. Young art graduates are eagerly embracing global trends and a number of our contemporary artists produce radical, thought-provoking work, some of which is receiving considerable validation abroad. But the equation between rising art production and domestic art consumerism is uneven.

Demand and sale of Pakistani contemporary art selected by international art galleries is favourable and auction sales of Old Master art, which began in the 1990s, has also benefited from this spotlight. Ripple effects of this drift has stirred the interest of the local collectors and escalated art prices in Pakistan.

When prices increased, art began to be appraised for its material worth. But art purchasing here cannot be equated with the global ‘art as investment’ sensibility currently energising the international art market. Art is a lucrative alternative investment for those mentioned on Forbes lists, not for average art enthusiasts. The people that immediately fall into this category are mostly the Steve Cohens, the Roman Abramovichs, and the various Mugrabis of the world.

Pakistani art has had its select patrons and connoisseurs since the early post-independence years but our collector base is still miniscule and this is one among several reasons that no international auction house has yet opened their offices here despite the growing interest in the calibre and quality of our modern and contemporary art.

The glaring deficit of necessary infrastructure and current art industry requisites has not just deprived Pakistani art of the ‘branding’ it deserves internationally but has impeded the growth of seller/ purchaser sensibility also. Among the number of galleries that have sprung up in the past decade only a few (read three or four) are perennial and compare satisfactorily with the handful of established top tier galleries that are so far the most reliable and effective conduits of art here. Some of the new galleries just pander to the tastes of the uninformed begum or socialite variety of customers looking for vibrant decorative art.

Buying entire series or stock lots from artists at a given amount and reselling the works independently at a profit, or meeting the demand for Master art with fakes and forgeries, these galleries are doing brisk business in the name of art. Every art world has its murky underbelly and Pakistan is no different. On the flip side, the emergence of yuppie-buyers and discerning corporate collecting is a healthy development. They engage with the art, study its conceptual and technical status, its provenance and historical significance and understand business ethics.

While there is nothing wrong with buying a piece of art because you like it, it is not the same as investing in it. Art is not an investment in the true sense of the word. It does not generate dividends or interest and, in fact, costs you money to maintain while resale is variable.