Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 37 2023

We are now, after almost 10 years, at our 509th issue of the newsletter and of Kobel's Art Week. After 33 years and number 788, Karlheinz Schmid will discontinue his Infromationsdienst Kunst in October. This organ, printed on Din A 4 with an extremely idiosyncratic layout, will no longer be available to interested readers. It will only have been available in print, by subscription and delivered free of charge. Twelve months for 296.00 EUR has been its price since 1991. One can actually speak of patrons who have ignored the inflation of almost 85% since the Infromationsdienst was founded. Stamps for a domestic letter were available for 1 Mark - today they are at 85 Eurocent, that just sounds cheaper. The critical voice of Schmid and his team will be missed by the market and the institutions. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for a well-researched, critical, independent art companion with its own opinion to reappear in a different form after October 2023.

Art insurers met in Dresden at the invitation of the German Insurance Association. A wide range of topics were discussed over two days. Among other things: should museums and art warehouses be sprinkled? In the USA this seems to be common practice - in Germany, Austria and Switzerland it is a no-go. The question of the carbon footprint also occupied those present. However, art transports by rail are still viewed critically and are among the standard exclusions of insurers - no wonder given the performance of the German state railway at present. In Switzerland, one could talk about it. There, delays of 3 minutes or more are posted on the network the next day. It also became clear at the conference that there is currently no insurance cover for NFTs and other IT-based, alleged art consorts. The investors take full risk - or does the so transparent net unwillingly help with money laundering after all? It remains unclear why the cybercriminals like to be paid in Bitcoin - i.e. in FTs. If it were so transparent, they would be stupid.

India has passed the baton of the G20 to Brazil, whose president, the supposedly leftist Signor Lula, immediately makes clear what he thinks of an international arrest warrant: Namely, nothing! Mr Putin, who is wanted for inciting war crimes, is invited and promised safe conduct. The community of states already presents a tired picture when it comes to the basics of humanity - egoism first, no matter what political veneer the respective leadership of a nation puts on.

It's a bit like marching through the institutions - if you can't manage it locally, you try it through the EU bodies. As a result, one wonders about the voluntary and ideological electoral support given to the extreme parties by the Greens, Social Democrats and parts of the Christian parties. The EU institutions are planning a law (which, of course, has to be adapted nationally in each case) with which dwellings and buildings in general, which are evil from a monocausal environmental point of view, are to be made environmentally compatible in a relatively short time. For this purpose, categories are formed and declared undesirable in ascending chronological order. By investing, one can escape the curse - who pays for it? open! The result is a further decline in support for the European idea and a flight into nationalism. It couldn't be more stupid - a pity - but this way the idea of a great Europe united by languages, nations and religions continues to recede into the background, because the majority of the previous non-voters has no desire for active destruction of prosperity.

And art? It tries to somehow hold its own in between without bending. However, this is often done using the motto: "Don't try to influence my opinion with facts". But great things also come out of mistakes.

In this spirit, we wish you a stimulating week in which the concerns of Ukraine are not forgotten.

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