Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 34 2022

At the other end of the world, little is heard of the war that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine, which has been going on for six months now, because nationalistic bigotry coupled with the inferiority complexes of an entire people have allowed it to happen. In a way, this is reminiscent of the situation at the outbreak of the Second World War - except that Russia did not lose a war. It's enough if Putin's camarilla is sufficiently afraid of democratic movements. And now winter is slowly announcing itself for the gas-supplied households. Last week, the local municipally owned energy supplier announced an increase in service prices of just over 100 %, while proudly proclaiming that its basic price would remain unchanged. Since this is now happening all over the country at roughly the same level, the Cartel Office should perhaps take a closer look. Profit is ok - but superprofits should not play a role, especially in companies that belong to the public sector (i.e. us).

Uniqa continues to underwrite risks in Ukraine - and thus has backbone, which some risk managers in the insurance industry seem to lack. Against the background of the approaching winter, we are continuing to work on organising the exhibition "Worth Fighting for - Artists for Ukraine" in Cologne. Art Asyl e.V. is supporting us in realising the overview of current art in Ukraine. Works that were on view during the Venice Biennale will be shown and admission will be free - even on Monday when all museums are otherwise closed - except for the museums in Brisbane where there is a good exhibition by Chiharu Shiota currently on view. You can support our project by donating here.

Art Jakarta is happening again this week. More than 20 galleries from the global south show what the region is really capable of. Not a trace of Ruangrupa. But that's how it is when, from a domestic point of view, the jury decides on the next organiser of the next Dokumenta, claiming to be the most important, largest, most comprehensive, superlative (in short, megalomaniac) event of visual art. In the past, going to Kassel was the highest level of provincial officialdom - no one wanted to go there, even though there are very beautiful places.

We'll just send out our newsblog now and wish you a lively week with lots of art enjoyment.

Your Stephan Zilkens and the team of Zilkens Fine Art in Cologne and Solothurn