Turkish Property Port

Are you ready to invest in contemporary art in Istanbul?

Over the recent years, Istanbul has witnessed a blooming appetite for artistic events especially in contemporary art with new venues and breakthrough projects. This trend underlines the importance of the art economy and investment in art not only by Turks, but also by foreign investors. 

The widespread presence of artistic events in Istanbul brings an opportunity for the city to increase its global visibility in the eyes of the foreign investors. 

Building high-end galleries in the heart of the city, taking part of the buzzing contemporary art scene of this “never-sleeping” metropolis or just having a piece of art in their living rooms are more and more becoming a magnet for the foreign investors. 

Since 10 years, Contemporary Istanbul art fair, held usually during the first week of November, has been drawing an increasing number of foreign visitors, collectors and artists from every coin of the world. 

This year, the 10th edition of the Contemporary Istanbul art fair was visited by more than 84,000 foreign collectors as well as art professionals, museum groups and art-lover tourists from all over the world, a significant jump compared to the previous years.

The total value of the exhibited works amounted to 63 million Euros, while 64 percent of them were sold to domestic and foreign visitors.

This event has been not only an opportunity for the visitors to see over a hundred of galleries across 24 countries and about 800 artists, but it also attracts foreign tourists and investors who are specifically interested in making good money from this boom in Turkey’s contemporary art market. 

Besides Contemporary Istanbul, there are also many big and medium-scale art galleries across the city, like the Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Pera Museum and many other art galleries mainly owned by the art-savvy national banks create a platform for the artists and the collectors that provides a guarantee for their investments. 

Are you ready to invest in contemporary art in Istanbul?

Turkey has 18 percent of value-added tax for purchasing artistic works, however sector representatives have been insistently calling for a decrease on this tax, which would give further incentives for the foreign investors towards this still niche sector in Turkey. 

Turkish modern art is a brand-new avenue for investment for the foreign collectors and investors to make inroads into this market. It doesn't only mean buying art collections, but also investing in strategic real estate in key locations near to the artistic circles to be used as art galleries for domestic and foreign collectors. 

The days when Istanbul will become the hub for the global clientele are not far.