Art in modern times has been promoted as luxury article, commodity or as medium for political and critical statements. Times change. Markets change.

Regardless of communication technologies in business, one still needs natural interhuman dialogue, for instance meeting in person. Throughout history artworks have always worked well as intermediary paving the way for business oriented interhuman relations.

Target audiences are back into focus, not only for corporations, but also for art. Artworks always had the capacity through natural appeal to visually offer experiences across cultures. The Renaissance and Baroque are two western examples of times when art was successfully applied for business (trade) purposes – in both directions over the (old) Silk Roads and seas.

In the global market place, corporations have to be active in countries very different from their own. For obvious reasons intercultural dialogue is a substantial part of any marketing strategy. Today artworks again may feature well in marketing strategies that build on mutual cultural respect and pave the way for local acceptance. The social responsibility standard for corporations operating in any part of the world has grown in significance, so far limited to corporate environmental policies.

Fré Ilgen©2009. All rights received.