Source: Art Basel.
While many speculate on how Gen Z taste will shape the art market of the future, a shift in the composition of collectors is already underway. Female buyers are making their mark and while their taste is impossible to generalize, trends are coming through that point to a different approach including, at this stage, a bias towards female artists.
A recorded webinar about developing sustainability strategies in cultural institutions, including carbon accounting, sustainable event management and organisational transformation.
Source: Art Market Experts.
The architecture of global collecting is undergoing one of the most profound shifts in recent history. The traditional hierarchy long anchored by boomer and Gen X wealth has loosened, allowing a younger, more diverse generation of collectors to step decisively into prominence. As the market moves toward 2026, generational dynamics are no longer a secondary narrative; they are the driving force resetting expectations around value, taste, engagement, and the very purpose of collecting.
Source: Artnet News.
A new book by Georgina Adam examines why the art market is struggling to engage younger collectors and discusses changing expectations around accessibility, taste, technology, and collecting culture. It is particularly relevant for understanding how the industry may need to change to attract Gen Z and Millennials.
BE OPEN Art online gallery set up by Elena Baturina’s humanitarian think-tank BE OPEN, continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art for the fourth year in 2026. The regional competition for emerging artists aims to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities, for the third year now.
The Art Limitless programme within the BE OPEN Art online gallery has announced Joe Mwakiremba as the August 2026 monthly winner, recognising his collaborative art practice that transforms discarded flip-flops into vibrant sculptural works.
Source: Art Basel.
The article explores the growing importance of experiences in collecting, including studio visits, dinners, cultural events, and direct relationships with artists. It notes that buying directly from artists through studio visits, Instagram, or commissions more than tripled as a share of collector spending.
BE OPEN Art is pleased to announce Karolína Amálie Šimková as the Artist of the Month for August 2026. A Czech painter, Šimková’s figurative practice explores emotion, memory, and the complexities of contemporary social experience. Through intimate representations and expressive colour, her work reflects on inner psychological states and the ways people construct, reveal, and conceal their identities.
BE OPEN Art is pleased to announce Marie Boková as the August Regional Artist of the Month in the Central Europe stage of its 2026 global art competition. Running from May to August 2026, the regional stage brings together emerging artists representing the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The image above © Dana Gluckstein, Chanter, Hawaii
Co-edited by Wayne Visser.
“The Indigenous Peoples of the world have a gift to give that the world needs desperately, this reminder that we are made for harmony, for interdependence. If we are to ever prosper, it will only be together.” Desmond Tutu, in the Foreword to DIGNITY.
BE OPEN Art, an online gallery set up by Elena Baturina’s humanitarian think-tank BE OPEN, continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art for the fourth year in 2026. The regional competition for emerging artists aims to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities, for the third year now.
