When we were researching our blog article about growing interest in Australian indigenous art by Chinese buyers we learnt that is was in 2013 that foreign auction houses were finally permitted in mainland China. Christies, an international auction house with over 240 years of history, become the first one to be allowed to operate independently in the country. These days Christies has been joined by Sothebys, Phillips and a couple of local Chinese houses: Poly Auction and Guardian China. Global auctions of art in China are leading the world.
The international auction houses operate in the country without a local partner. It was intriguing when the journalist asked a Christies’ representative: “Why come to China physically when nowadays you can do auctions online?” They responded “We’ve put a lot of effort into our online auction operation…for example we’ve embedded Chinese subtitles to Christie’s Live, which is our online auction operating system. As a result the Chinese buyers can enjoy and participate in overseas auctions just like other buyers!” Christie’s certainly understands the importance of using Chinese language to communicate with Chinese buyers! The down-unders must be prepared and ready for the coming boom!
Chin Communications frequently works in artistic translations and helped the National Gallery of Australia to translate and localise their indigenous collection website. We are excited, hoping this growing interest from Chinese collectors will bring more business Australia’s way!