Focus on art
Daman Investments, the Dubai-based broker and private equity company, has started a $13.6 million fund to buy Middle Eastern art as prices for works by Arab and Iranian artists soar.
"Dubai and the United Arab Emirates are at the very centre of a new awareness of the emergence of an Arab art renaissance,'' Chief Executive Officer Shehab Gargash said in a statement.
Christie's recently sold "The Wall (Oh Persepolis)" by Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli in Dubai for $2.84 million, an auction record for a Middle Eastern artist. Auction houses including Christie's and Bonhams are expanding in the Middle East.