Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 33 2023

In the 505th issue of all, Stefan Kobel's half-year review of everything that is not an auction or art fair turned out to be particularly long - so we can keep our comments shorter... .

This weekend, CADORO, the Centre for Art and Science in Mainz founded by Dorothea van der Koelen, celebrated its 20th birthday with a wonderful party. We offer our warmest congratulations.

A maritime car carrier burns off Terschelling and Lufthansa reacts - What's the connection? Lufthansa has imposed an embargo on the transport of battery-powered and engine-powered vehicles with effect from 11 August. Until the beginning of September, no car or truck will be allowed in the hold of a Lufthansa aircraft. The cause of the fire, which triggered one of the more expensive insurance claims at sea, is too unclear to put the lives of crews, passengers and people living below air routes at risk. What does this now mean for art transport and the attempt to make the logistics of art exhibitions greener? One or two art hauliers - the normal ones have long since begun - are currently calculating the investment in electric-driven trucks, which are also suitable in terms of equipment for art transport. How do insurers react who are already not beaming with joy when it comes to the transport of art at sea? The maximum means of conveyance almost no longer plays a role in some markets - London doesn't seem to be interested in it at all. But especially for art exhibitions, 500 million euros are quickly moved. Are we now back to the known limitations? No transport with an insurance sum of more than 100 million euros? Transports with electric trucks only up to 10 million EUR, if at all? In any case, extinguishing a battery-powered vehicle is much more difficult than extinguishing a lorry that runs on diesel. The politically responsible men and women have had little desire to increase the budgets for the running costs of cultural institutions for quite some time. They prefer to build new buildings and let the old ones decay. The stupid thing is that the new ones don't get finished because the building regulations are constantly being adjusted according to political whim, thus delaying the building approval. There are countries where this is easier - Switzerland, for example - but there the public administration also serves the citizen and not the other way round.

We wish you a hopeful week - there is always something possible somewhere.

Stephan Zilkens and the team of Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH in Cologne and Solothurn