Art fairs and similar events aimed at bringing wealthy tourists and international recognition (and to toss blows in a new, intra-Arab competition for cultural superiority as countries stage ever-bigger and ever-splashier projects) mean that artists have begun to matter.
Yet we also want to be protected from the downside, the job insecurity that results from greater foreign competition and the cultural hegemony of the United States.
The rationalised process is part of a competition to find more cultural and natural heritage places of global importance, which are fit to become future UK World Heritage Sites.