It's an encouraging sign for the post-pandemic art world. Global investment in cultural infrastructure returned to pre-pandemic levels last year, with total costs for projects completed and announced in 2022 reaching an estimated total value of US$15.1 billion. This is according to the latest annual report of the Cultural Infrastructure Index by AEA Consulting, which has just released the 2022 edition.
The report, now in its seventh year, measures investment in capital projects in the cultural sector worldwide, which must have a budget of US$10 million or more to be considered.
In total, the 185 projects completed in 2022 represented US$7.8 billion in investments, and the estimated cost for the 225 newly announced projects is US$7.3 billion. A longer-term view indicates that this growth is likely to continue even after the wave of post-Covid recovery in 2021.
A total of 211 large-scale cultural infrastructure projects were completed in 2021, with a total value of $11.2 billion - the highest annual volume and value of projects completed since AEA Consulting began tracking projects in 2016. a significant recovery from a slump in 2020, when just 104 projects were completed with a value of $5.7 billion, according to that report.
The index provides information and tracks trends on the number, type, location and budgets of cultural infrastructure projects announced and completed each year, tracking trends across project types, as well as uses, geographic distribution and year-to-year changes.
Source: Artnet News