Ayra Art
A non-profit art organization that bridges India & America
Co-Founder
The Problem Ayra Art was designed to give access to global art market to the Indian consumer. Given the growing middle class in India, with more people coming into extraneous wealth, the overall Indian Modern and Contemporary art market saw a 36% increase in sales in 2015.
The Market We discovered that: i) the Indian art market is at a tipping point. Consumers have more liquid assets that they want to invest and their awareness of art as a desirable object has exponentially increased ii) Consumers in markets similar to India want access to art from global markets such as New York.
The Solution We designed a show for the Kolkata market. We were planning on holding an exclusive, invite-only event that featured "Fine-Food and Fine-Art from New York". We identified 12 artists in the New York area, curated art work that matched the sentiment of the Indian consumer as well as art that we could easily transport. The theme that tied the art together was "inspired by New York". We set up relationships with customs in India and the US to smoothen the process of a temporary imports and exports. We finalized a location, a caterer, identified anchor clients, PR agencies and marketing firms. We were marching towards a fantastic event.
The Impact Then Prime Minister Modi's de-monetization scheme hit. India went from having significant cash surplus to becoming a cash-strapped economy overnight, effectively reducing a consumer's willingness to purchase luxury goods like art. With 4 weeks to the show, we had to post-pone our opening till the economy stabilized!