Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 23 2025

Last week, a photo of immigration in Singapore, and now one from Frankfurt am Main – what does this have to do with art and culture? It's actually quite obvious: where do you feel more welcome? In a queue in front of unfriendly machines or in a seemingly open control system? What's more, control devices have now been set up at Frankfurt Airport for non-EU citizens, no doubt crammed full of good German technology and designed to be infallible in their preliminary checks on entry. They have been set up, but are not yet activated – perhaps a minister would like to inaugurate them? Better not, it would probably be another one of those countless cases of taxpayers' money being wasted on bloated technology that would be easier to obtain if we would just allow the procedures of other countries to work. Neither the Philippines nor Singapore are suspected of being particularly migration-friendly countries. Before entry, they ask travellers online for everything they want to know about them and then inform them of their decision: yes or no. Too bad for those who don't have internet or don't know how to use it. After that, border control is very simple. Why can't this be done in Germany? Probably because we don't care that the previous social democratic labour ministers pumped 25 billion euros a year into the administration of the social welfare system. That's more than 5% in administrative costs. They would have threatened any life insurer with legal action if they had such figures – but cleaning up their own backyard?

Ute Weickardt, long-time registrar of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation in Potsdam, is now retired. Hopefully, the knowledge she has acquired over decades will not be lost. Dr. Inge Herold, deputy director of the Kunsthalle Mannheim, is also retiring after 33 years.

There are many countries in the world that create reasons why creative people in particular have to leave because they can no longer work there without risking their lives. They have to seek asylum. In Germany, there are many artists (and yes, of all genders) seeking asylum from many different countries around the world. Many lack a studio where they can work, visibility and recognition. Not every artist produces work of a quality that touches people. We are planning a project that will provide 14 artists with a studio in Cologne for three months over a period of two years, where they will work in pairs, possibly from completely different cultures, with different beliefs and values, to develop a joint exhibition of their own works. The project will culminate in a group exhibition featuring the works of all participants. Who can help us get in touch with artists who might be interested in such a project? Please get in touch.

On 29 September 2025, the Congress of Austrian Art Experts will take place in Vienna under the motto ‘Art in Focus’. Six years and a pandemic have passed since 2019. Registrations are welcome.

Seven at one stroke, they said of the brave little tailor – Ukraine can do better: in dire straits, they have destroyed 40 Russian aircraft far behind the Russian bear's borders. And they did it without Taurus. Russia and Putin do not want peace, they want a different world order. It is time we all understood that. Art will also change.

For those who don't know what elemental damage is, the glacier collapse that buried Blatten in the Valais has been classified as such. However, there is no compulsory insurance for buildings in the canton... . Damage costs for natural hazards in Germany will remain high in 2024 at 5.7 billion. However, in the previous year, it was mainly the autumn and winter storms that caused the damage. These did not occur in 2024, but there were several devastating floods instead.

Some legislative changes only benefit lawyers. The old government's law on changes to the rules governing costs and carers' remuneration has come into force. Court fees are up, lawyers' fees are up, and digitisation is not happening. The German Insurance Association does not think the law is particularly well drafted, and the 40% of private households that do not have legal expenses insurance will have to pay the increased costs out of their own pockets – which may reduce the number of lawsuits. Legal expenses insurers expect costs for insured claims to rise by 250 million per year. This usually leads to premium adjustments. Gerhard Richter was probably able to pay the damages claimed for the unauthorised publication of images of his Cologne Cathedral window without legal expenses insurance – and since he won the case, the other side must also bear his costs. Incidentally, copyright infringements are usually excluded from legal expenses insurance.

Anyone who wants to visit English churches and cathedrals at current prices should make a be of it quickly, despite the changed entry requirements for the former EU country. The costs of restoration and maintenance will either lead to closure or an increase in admission prices for culture-loving visitors. The government has added to this – VAT is now only deductible up to £25,000 for construction work. With a construction cost of £10 million, this increases the total cost by 20%, which cannot be offset by increased revenue from visitors (no, it's not just the men who pay). The consequence: the buildings are threatened with closure due to acute danger to visitors.

Since the early 1980s, Eva and Adele have been an integral part of art fairs and exhibitions. As a heartfelt total work of art, their ever-imaginative masquerade delighted visitors and distracted them with a wink from some presentations that left room for improvement. Eva has now died in Berlin at the age of 74. We mourn with Adele.

We wish everyone a thoughtful start to the week, which begins with documentation of the internal division in Poland and lets little hope for a ceasefire in Ukraine germinate despite negotiations in Istanbul.

Yours, Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH in Solothurn and Cologne