Zilkens'
News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 51 2025

The world is not becoming more peaceful, and the conditions under which artists can work are not becoming more free – censorship, sales bans, obstructed publications, gallery closures and daily bombings are restricting the space in which art can develop in many places around the world. An association has now been founded in Cologne: Support Artists in Exile Cologne e.V., which will award studio grants to artists living in exile in Europe (and of course female artists too – the generic masculine form is used here) from next year onwards. More details will be available shortly before Christmas at www.artistsinexile.de. Applications can already be submitted at application@artistsinexile.de. In addition to studio space, an exhibition and a catalogue, each artist will receive EUR 1,000 per month for materials.

Another association is Kunstsammler e.V., initiated by Harald Falckenberg, which aims to represent the collective interests of German art collectors with a united voice. Collectors (and, of course, female collectors – see above) are often left to their own devices when it comes to the political framework conditions, even though a lobby group with political clout could help. The Cultural Property Protection Act, the artists' social security fund, inheritance law, restitution and provenance research are issues that also affect collectors in Germany. Last week, the general meeting was held in Berlin, at which the executive board and advisory board were also elected: Tilmann Kriesel (chairman), Alexander Herbert, Monika Schnetkamp, Hannes Hartung and Larissa Falckenberg form the executive board. Christiane Scharf, Carolin Scharpff-Striebich, Hartmut Fromm and the author of these lines, among others, were elected to the advisory board. Here's to the interests of collectors being heard more strongly in public debate in the future.

The members of the Federal Association of German Galleries met in Munich at Karl and Faber for their annual general meeting. There, too, a new board was elected, and lo and behold: it is the old one, which is trusted because it does good work: Kristian Jarmuschek (Berlin), Anke Schmidt (Cologne) and Thole Rotermund (Hamburg) are actively managing the association's affairs, supported by Birgit Maria Sturm as managing director and Maria Morais for marketing and communication. Stability is important in these difficult times.

It is now also clear where Silivia Zörner has gone: she is now the commercial director of CIO Berlin in Hardenbergstrasse, a centre for contemporary photography. We wish her every success in this exciting new role.

Otherwise, we can look forward to Berlin, where the future of Ukraine will once again be discussed today. Will Europe wake up? We will know more at the end of the week, and things should also calm down. The fourth Sunday of Advent is approaching.

We wish everyone a good third week of Advent and hope you enjoy Stefan Kobel's art week afterwards.

Yours truly, Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zikens Fine Art Insurance Broker in Cologne and Solothurn.