Crown Fine Art, a division of the Crown Worldwide Group and a global leader in the secure transport and storage of artworks, rare artifacts, and other valuable assets, has strengthened their India team with Ajay Venkatachalam’s appointment as Corporate Service Manager in India.

This role, equivalent to a Business Head, aligns with the company’s goal to bolster its presence in Asia’s rapidly expanding art markets, the company said in a statement.

Crown Worldwide Group recently inaugurated a state-of-the-art 27,616 sqft facility in Mumbai, dedicated to records management and fine art storage, further underscoring their commitment to supporting business information management and art preservation in India.

In his new role, Venkatachalam will oversee customer-facing sales and manage climate-controlled storage for fine art at Crown Worldwide Group, ensuring efficient and secure operations. He will also coordinate between fine art and private relocations divisions, optimizing shared resources.

“With 20 years of experience working in sales and operations, Venkatachalam will be translating his knowledge and skills to support world-class transportation and storage of art in another of the world’s fast-growing art destinations,” the company said.

“We are seeing increasing growth in order sizes and requests, and the domestic spread of galleries is very high in India. One of our key strengths lies in our storage solutions, particularly our vault storage, so I am keen to collaborate with fine art stakeholders to ensure they have access to the best facilities, especially with the growing interest in the southeastern art market,” Venkatachalam said.

In the efforts to expand and strengthen its presence in Asia’s emerging art markets, Crown Worldwide Group has appointed Ying Zhao in Singapore as Fine Art Director and Katherina Chau as Fine Art Manager in Hong Kong.

With a 28-year legacy in India, the company operates from 13 key locations, including major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai, and manages 24 state-of-the-art warehouses across the country. Globally, Crown Worldwide Group generated revenues exceeding USD 650 million in 2023, with over a million pieces of art stored across its network, underscoring its status as a trusted guardian of the world’s cultural treasures.