It is no secret that organising and managing a collection can be a complex and exhausting task. It requires time, dedication and expertise, something that experienced art professionals and The Open Crate co-founders, Amina Debbiche and Nora Mansour, understand very well.
Created in 2016, the Dubaibased company offers a service unlike anything else available on the market: the first independent, bespoke digital solution for collectors, private foundations and art advisors. With The Open Crate, accessing and managing collections is now efficient, easy, secure and completely private. By combining technology and expertise with its founders’ knowledge of the art world, The Open Crate has tailored a software solution and a unique approach to collection management.
As the founders explain, “At TOC, everything happens in-house, and everything is handled by our team, meaning we provide a private, confidential and secure frame at all times. We manage the full process of cataloguing collections ourselves. Whether the information is retrieved and analysed, organised and fact-checked or archived and migrated on TOC software, it’s through our hands only, every step of the way. Clients can also choose to manage their collection on their own – we provide many essential tools and data so our users can grow their collection in a comprehensive and smart way.”
When it comes to management, The Open Crate provides an exceptional range of services.
From collection curation to sourcing and acquiring work, to shipping, to framing, The Open Crate works with the best art professionals in the field to help save valuable time and resources for their clients, while also offering the affordable luxury of one’s own private and secure digitalspace. Bespoke solutions allow clients to manage, share and expand their collections in a straightforward manner, with every feature specifically designed to help them effortlessly organise, document and preserve these precious, curated bodies of work.
“To create their private space and get started on The Open Crate platform, our clients simply choose from our Basic, Pro, Pro+, Premium and Premium+ packages, with the options best suited for your expectations. Our Basic, Pro and Premium packages let you be completely in charge and responsible for implementing the information yourself. If you don’t have the time or can’t be bothered to upload and organise your collection yourself, we do it for you. The other two packages, Pro+ and Premium+, provide you with one of our trusted and dedicated collection managers to update the collection when needed. Do you need us to simply handle the implementation of any new missing information pertaining to your collection? We can do that. And so much more.”
The digital inventory and management software is extremely useful, giving clients greater intellectual control over their collections or their clients’ collections. The platform lets you explore the works, or track and document key aspects of a collection to valorise and add accountability. With a clear inventory and access to what a collection holds, everything else becomes easy.
A version of this article appeared in print in Selections, Frequently Asked Questions in Art #48, page 30 – 31