Collecting Culture: How, Why and When to Invest in Art

Surbhit Dabriwala is a Singapore-based entrepreneur and family office investor with interests spanning global equities, hedge funds, alternative assets, and real estate. He is a Promoter of various businesses serving industries from insurance, education, retail, real estate, and mining. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he has held board positions with Fanuc India, PNB MetLife and General Electric Joint Ventures. His educational venture ranks among India’s top 50. A passionate collector of Modern Indian Art, he is a member of YPO Singapore and the US-India Business Council. He lives in Singapore with his wife, Yamini, and their two children.

Leonie Mir currently serves as the Head of VIP, EMEA & INDIA for Frieze, one of the world’s leading contemporary art fairs, where she plays a key role in managing international VIPs and elite art world relationships and experiences. Prior to joining Frieze in April 2024, Leonie operated as an independent art advisor and curator specialising in modern and contemporary art. She ran her own consultancy company under the name Leonie Mir Fine Art, which provided advisory services for exhibitions and private clients. Her curatorial projects included exhibitions at prestigious venues such as The Arts Club in London, where she collaborated with Wedel Fine Art on the first UK show of the late Egyptian artist Wassef Boutros-Ghali in 2023 and a solo exhibition of the acclaimed Danish/Turkish ceramicist Alev Ebbuziya Siesbye at Tristan Hoare Gallery in 2022. Her last and most prestigious project before joining Frieze was curating a group show with internationally acclaimed artists for the European Capital of Culture in Gmunden, Austria in 2024.

Minal Vazirani co-founded Saffronart in 2000 and has been a driving force behind the auction house’s growth, leading efforts across strategy, business development, technology, and finance. Her leadership has been pivotal in expanding the company’s operations and establishing its presence in Mumbai, Delhi, New York, and London. She has been an avid art collector for nearly three decades and has curated and organised exhibitions of Indian art both in India and internationally. She is a co-founder of ART MUMBAI, the city’s first dedicated art fair, launched in November 2023.

Mukti Khaire is the Girish and Jaidev Reddy Professor of Practice at Cornell Tech and the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Khaire is an economic sociologist who studies the creation of new markets by pioneering entrepreneurs in creative and cultural industries, including art, fashion, film, music, and publishing. Her research has shed light on how entrepreneurs leveraging technology in these industries have changed the structure and functioning of these industries, leading to consequences for society more broadly. Her book, “Culture and Commerce: The Value of Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries,” was named one of Forbes’ Top 10 Books on Creative Leadership.