It will digitize paintings by Kazakh artists and make them more saleable around the world. This startup idea came to Gleb Streib, a business owner from Switzerland. The entrepreneur had nothing to do with the art world, but the works of domestic artists inspired him to implement such an art project in Kazakhstan.
There are many talented people living in Kazakhstan, including artists with truly unique paintings and inimitable style. Gleb Streib says that this made him think of creating a special application, which will enable the whole world to get acquainted with the works of Kazakh artists. At present, the art platform brings together over 100 domestic artists and more than 1,000 paintings, and the numbers are increasing every day.
«The project aims to digitize all the artworks in Kazakhstan with no exception, from those belonging to housewives to renowned artists. The matter they are all concerned about is how their paintings can be found. The answer is that we have no borders. We already have teams that will undertake work in the countries far and near abroad. We are about to start from April,» Streib shared.
The project has recently been launched with the opening of an office in Almaty city. Another one is expected to be opened in the country’s capital in a month. Streib built up a team of experts, including IT and marketing specialists, designers, photographers, and many others. They intend to scale up the project first in Kazakhstan, and then all over the world. The only thing that should be done by artists is to register on the platform, the rest of the work will be carried out by the team staff. Assel Sabyrzhankyzy, who is widely known under the name Assol, appreciated the advantages of this cooperation. She creates unusual paintings - from sketching with a pencil to hyper-realistic oil paintings, which are in great demand. However, selling paintings require much time that artists are always short of, she opines.
«The convenient thing for me is a website that shows all the works that I have. It also includes a price list so that I can just send this web page to my clients, and they can choose any painting they want. I don't even have to communicate with them. There is also an app that attracts more customers, and there I receive a lot of requests to buy a painting. The app helps with logistics so the paintings can be picked up from me, packaged, and sent to the client. I can just do the artwork, and I find it very convenient,» Assel Sabyrzhankyzy added.
The principle of the application is quite simple. The paintings posted on the marketplace are divided by genre, subject, time period and artists. Each artist has his or her individual profile. A team of art critics conducts research, selecting the most talented artists and craftspeople. Works presented for every taste and budget can be purchased at a single click via QR code.
