Qatar is building the Gulf’s largest museum-grade art storage facility, a free-zone “art hub” to keep the best collections closer to home. The Doha facility will manage preservation, security, and logistics as interest in art rises. Next year, Qatar will host Art Basel and Abu Dhabi is bringing in the Frieze festival. Sotheby’s held its debut auction in Riyadh this year, adding to the kingdom’s calendar once dominated by Jeddah’s Islamic Arts Biennale.
Logistics companies in the Gulf aim to get a share of the roughly $3.5 billion art storage market.
Collectors who would stash a Botero at the Geneva Freeport now have options: ATHR, Saudi’s leading contemporary art gallery, opened a storage facility in May and soon the Qatar-based GWC and QC+ will handle art in Doha.