Investing Aura
Making Value at an Emirati Art Center
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24233120 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth Derderian (0000-0002-3393-0429, Department of Sociology and Anthropology The College of Wooster Wooster Ohio USA) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-09 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Economic Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2330-4847 • E-ISSN: 2330-4847 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sea2.70056 |
| OpenAlex | W7221154147 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
The article examines the politics and processes of establishing value for artworks, highlighting the continued belief in Walter Benjamin's idea of aura and describing the value aura generates as “auratic value.” Focusing on an artist residency program in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the country's arts boom, I analyze contestations between artists and the gallery director. In response to the gallery director's contracts, which accorded value by size and in which artists signed over copyright to their work, artists refused to invest their auratic value in their artworks, ultimately devaluing their own works but minimizing the value extracted from them. These instances show the continued relevance of aura and how value is negotiated between various actors in the art industry.
art contracts · art galleries · art industry · Art market · art valuation · Aura · copyright transfer · Walter Benjamin · Art History and Market Analysis · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Cultural Industries and Urban Development
Dubai, the City as Corporation
Weavers and dealers
The cultural biography of things
The Social Life of Things
Cities and the Creative Class
Museums in Arabia
Two Essays
Modernity and the Museum in the Arabian Peninsula
The Rules of Art
Beyond the Intentional Fallacy
Is there a 'Venice Effect'? Participation in the Venice Biennale and the implications for artists' careers
Treasured Possessions
Copyright
Reframing the Aura
Marketing the Entrepreneurial Artist in the Innovation Age
Creating value for objects-in-waiting
| Highly cited | No |
|---|