WhatsApp shopping has hit the art world.
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00:00 Arco, the largest art fair in Spain, returns to Madrid.
00:04 More than 200 renowned national and international galleries and 350 invited collectors will participate in the event.
00:12 Investors with sufficient purchasing power to pay up to 3.3 million euros for a work of art will also attend.
00:20 But apart from the large galleries and the large numbers that are moving here in Arco, new collectors and emerging artists are looking for new formats and places to buy and sell art.
00:33 Manuel Sánchez Blanco just acquired this work by Arturo Méndez. Yet he did not buy it in a gallery, but through an auction in WhatsApp.
00:41 I don't have access to the world of art or to paintings by emerging artists. It's a way of getting to know works and having access to them in a more fun, dynamic way and sometimes at a good price.
00:56 Artist Nacho Vergara, founder of the project, created the sub WhatsApps for a kicker starter campaign.
01:02 Since then, 500 people follow their auctions every week on WhatsApp.
01:07 Users especially value his work in curating works on artists.
01:12 There is a person who is dedicated to selecting them and brings artists with a certain solvency and guarantees.
01:20 Away from conventional galleries, new projects are emerging to attract young collectors who are looking for different shopping experiences.
01:31 Instead of people sitting down and with a very serious attitude, here people are standing, drinking a beer, a gin and tonic and there is a much more relaxed atmosphere.
01:42 Many collectors or the public who come to the mass auctions are interested in both the contemporary art that we offer and the experience that surrounds the whole event, which is the auction.
01:56 Reporting from Madrid, Jaime Velasquez, Euronews.
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