THE EMERGENCE OF SOUTH-AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS IN THE ART WORLD

While the interest of experts for the Asian art market seems to be slowing down, scholars now seek new grounds for thoughts elsewhere. And in this otherworldliness, Africa seems to be filling the gap left behind by the Asian giants. There is now a real excitement regarding African Contemporary Art, well encapsulated in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, thanks to its thriving gallery district Woodstock, annual art fair and, from September 2017, a world-class museum: the Zeitz MOCAA. All this participates in the profound shift now undergone by South-African Contemporary Art. Yet, even though the interest in South- African Contemporary Art is growing, with an increasing presence in international art events, there is no clear evidence that South-African Contemporary Artists are performing better on the international art market. On the model of Femke Van Hest’s extensive research on the importance of territorial factors still in force in a globalising Art World, the aim of this thesis is to analyse the relevance of certain territorial factors at play in the emergence of South-African Contemporary Art on the international art scene. Moreover, the subsidiary objective of this research is to analyse a potential correlation effect that exists between international visibility of South-African artists in the Art World and better performances on the international art market. A strong hypothesis is that international visibility of South-African artists in art events increases their chances to perform better on the international art market. In addition to testing this hypothesis out, this research gives other insights regarding South-African Contemporary Art emergence in the Art World and on the international art market. Indeed, the present thesis compares the situation of already well-established South- African contemporary artists, who started producing in the Apartheid era, with that of the new generation of contemporary artists, “born free” after the Apartheid. This research assessed the close relationship between international visibility and commercial success of South-African artists, either established or emerging. It took into account various major international art events at which these artists were present and the evolution of their price list on the market. South Africa was an interesting case study since it is globally considered as an emerging power and a leading country on the African continent, however its contemporary art scene has received very limited attention so far compared to other emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil.