Feral Horses + Paratissima
The beginning of a long-lasting friendship with the Italian cultural event that has editions in Turin, Bologna, Cagliari, Milan, and Naples!
Last week, the Feral Horses Team traveled to Turin to take part in an art fair, for the first time ever! With the collaboration of our partner ADA Advisors, we launched an exclusive pre-sale of Jago’s Habemus Hominem at Paratissima.
Co-owning museum-worthy art, a new phase for Feral Horses.
In the past year, we saw a growing appetite from Feral Horses users and art lovers to co-own museum art. Ensuring that we deliver the best experience of art co-ownership to our users has always been at the centre of Feral Horses mission. The sale of Jago’s Pope which will be placed in the magnificent Doria Pamphilj collection in Rome is the embodiment of this commitment. You asked for it, we made it happen!
Pop-up museum tours and closed aisles: Habemus Hominem’s Paratissima success story
Needless to say, we were tremendously excited but also somewhat apprehensive to kickstart this new adventure. With an attendance of about 23,000 visitors, Paratissima was the ideal opportunity to meet our future users.
We hoped the sale of this wonderful sculpture in shares would make our booth one of the top curiosities of the fair. After all, Jago is one of Italy’s hottest contemporary artist. His sculptural style is admired by critics and he has a strong support base on social media. Combine that with the possibility of buying shares of his work for as little as 20.50 euros, and you get a fairly good recipe for success.
That said, never did we imagine that the fair would have to close the entrance of the aisle we were in because the queue at our booth was too long! Nor did we expect that our team members would turn into micro museum guides, lecturing dozens of people at time about the work and Feral Horses’ model! The feedback we received at Paratissima exceeded our expectations and we are grateful as ever to our users, old and new, who put their trust in us.
300 new Jago co-owners, who are they?
In 5 days, almost 300 people bought shares of Habemus Hominem.
The booth was a fabulous place to meet Feral users in person, get to know all of you and why you love buying shares of artworks.
Below are some initial takeaways from our time speaking with you at Paratissima.
People of all ages love buying shares of artworks.
The age range of the Jago buyers at Paratissima spanned from 18 to 70 years old.
Who said art co-ownership was exclusive to millennials? We even had children ask their parents if they could buy shares of the work on their behalf!
Money is no more a barrier to co-owning museum-worthy art.
Of course, we already knew that! However, the amount of people who bought shares at the fair is making us more confident than ever that art ownership can be accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial means.
At Paratissima, co-owners individually bought between 20.50 euros to 5125.00 euros worth of shares. It was gratifying for us to see that a young Jago admirer with a limited student budget could access the same artwork as an experienced art investor who recognizes the value of the piece and the model of co-ownership.
After all, inclusivity is what Feral Horses is about!
People buy shares of work for themselves … or for others!
Paratissima was the ideal setting to discuss people’s motivations for buying shares of art.
Some bought shares because they are Jago fans and are not able to individually afford his work. Buying a share of Habemus Hominem is the perfect formula to reconcile their financial constraints with their desire to take part in the artist’s journey.
Others were fascinated by both the Jago’s sculpture and Feral Horse’s model. They believe that co-owning a piece that will be displayed into an important collection is a sound investment opportunity.
We have also had some people buying shares as a gift for their friends, family, and loved ones. Be prepared, Santa will bring shares of artworks under the Christmas tree this year!
Our top four co-owner stories
Many of you shared your stories and told us about your motivation for buying shares. This is our top four.
“I am coming to buy a share of Jago’ Pope for myself and also one for my hairdresser! While doing my blow dry this morning he told me about what you do and said that the queue was too long for him to buy one yesterday so I am coming on purpose to make things right!”
“We are a group of three friends who love Jago’ work. We don’t have a big budget but we decided to buy a share together because we think this work is very promising. In 10 years if we make some money with this investment we will invite Jago and the Feral Horses team to celebrate around a bottle of Prosecco!”
“My girlfriend could not come today but she is a huge fan of Jago. I am buying a share as a surprise gift for our one year anniversary!”
“ I’m 8 year-old and my parents got my shares of Jago’s work today. It was really fun to see how the sculpture’s eyes where following me everywhere. I even got a very nice bag, a picture, and lots of stickers to take with me. When I turn 18 the work will be re-sold, I wonder what I’ll do then!”
The journey continues: online sale and placement at the Doria Pamphilj Collection
So what’s next for Jago’s pope?
On November 7th 2018 at 5pm (UK time), Habemus Hominem will available for sale to all Feral Horses users here. We cannot wait to welcome more co-owners into the sculpture’s fabulous journey!
Following the sale, we will place the work at the Doria Pamphilj Collection in Rome in January 2019 for a period of 6 months. There, it will be available for everyone to enjoy along with masterpieces from Old Masters such as Caravaggio, Bruegel the Elder, and Velazquez.
