Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 36 2023

Kobel's 508th issue contains a lot of exciting things, but no article on the DC Open, which took place this weekend. The Düsseldorf and Cologne gallery owners are doing something together and somehow the reports in the press only come afterwards - or hidden in the local gazettes. In times of economic upheaval, it would have been fitting to report on the tirelessly working galleries.

Journalism has a hard time - after all, the publishing houses and media are controlled by people who value profitability above all else - even the truth, which, as we know, only comes in twos, as Gabor Steingart constantly quotes Hannah Arendt. In Bavaria (a small German state with its own rules) it is election time. The CSU is ahead, followed by the AfD and the Free Voters. The latter are roughly on a par with the SPD and the Greens, and the FDP is trembling to get into the Landtag. They lack a presentable kingmaker. This is a difficult situation for the parties in power in Berlin. You can't assassinate King Markus, he's somehow too slippery. It's nice that they were able to find an old teacher who kept a leaflet for 35 years, which was firstly disgraceful and secondly found in Mr Oiwanger's (that's how he pronounces himself) school satchel. It wasn't enough to get him expelled from school, but many of his classmates suddenly have a memory capable of testifying that after 35 years they can still remember exactly what happened. To be honest, I have difficulty remembering what happened 10 years ago today without documents and a diary. But perhaps the Oiwanger was the only thing worth remembering in the lives of the witnesses. With the help of the SZ - which likes neither the CSU nor Mr. Oiwanger and his independent voters - this research goes out into the world and there is a lot of crying in public and other circles that claim to have justice in their hands. Please don't misunderstand - the leaflet is unspeakable and it is to be feared that there are still school bags with similar crap in them today. But in the case of Oiwanger, the whole thing was 35 years ago and there are supposed to be people who change without constantly running around in penitential garb, self-flagellating. After all, the unrepentant Putin friend Anna Netrebko will soon be allowed to give concerts in Berlin, even if she has not yet found it necessary to castigate Putin's war as a crime. The storm of indignation in Berlin is limited to a few upright people. In dubio pro reo - in doubt for the accused is the principle of the rule of law. Those who trample on this for base political motives and just because they see an opportunity should not be surprised that the current majority of non-voters (who are the real danger to democracy) turn to forces by which we do not want to be governed, if we hold the freedom of art dear.

This week, after a long time, the art insurers in Germany are coming together once again under the umbrella of the German Insurance Association. For two days in Dresden, exciting topics will be discussed, for example, how to make transport safer, more ecological and more insurable. NFT and AI will not be neglected either. After all, the debut, which has been pampered by a lack of art criticism, is promising for many an investor, even if some cyberlouts are trying to get their hands on the wallet (a kind of electronic purse).

At the end of the week, the Vienna Contemporary awaits visitors and buyers and we wish you a week that puts the fundamentals of economic developments back on their feet - Our readers in the UK, Austria and Switzerland can have hope. We in Germany must be brave - the economic competence of our rulers and those who elect them is determined by dreams from a time when the world population was just 1.6 billion. And that was less than 100 years ago.

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