Art Crime in Europe: Will Exhibitions Move to Embassies?
Want to See Art? Head to the Embassies. Welcome to the New Reality!
At the end of last year, we predicted that by the end of 2025, exhibitions and auctions might no longer be open to the public.
The reason?
Rising crime rates.
I’ve written about this way too often already, but recent events are becoming impossible to ignore.
Andy Warhol reproductions were stolen in the Netherlands a few months ago.
And this week, another museum in the Netherlands was robbed, with rare and invaluable pieces of Romanian history stolen.
The burglars used explosives in the middle of the night and escaped with four valuable objects connected to Romania’s cultural heritage.
“This is a dark day,” Harry Tupan, the general director of the Drents Museum, said in a statement. “We are intensely shocked by the events last night at the museum. In its 170-year existence, there has never been such a major incident. It also gives us enormous sadness towards our colleagues in Romania.”
This incident could spark an international scandal, damage cultural ties between two nations and, eventually, mark the beginning of the decline of the global art market as we know it.
Why?
Because galleries can’t always afford proper security, while governments are struggling to deal with growing crime across parts of Europe.
Overall, the number of crimes recorded in Germany rose to 5.94 million last year, an increase of 5.5% compared with the previous year and 9.3% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.
Sweden now has one of the highest gun death rates per capita in Europe… Since 2013, the number of fatal shootings in the country has more than doubled.
Etc.
So it’s becoming slightly less absurd to imagine a future where international art exhibitions are held inside embassies — some of the most heavily protected spaces in Europe.
Governments somehow always find money for image-building projects abroad, even when they’re cutting social benefits at home.
And here, the responsibility for protecting artworks and organising exhibitions would fall directly on the countries that value their cultural heritage and want to showcase it abroad.
Want to show Romanian treasures?
The Romanian embassy protects them.
Want to organise an exhibition of Ukrainian art?
Do it through the Ukrainian embassy.
Suddenly, cultural diplomacy becomes very literal.
Are we ready for art exhibitions to move into embassies?
No.
Do museums have a better solution?
Apparently not.
Welcome to the new reality!
...your worst artist and best friend,
At the end of last year, we predicted that by the end of 2025, exhibitions and auctions might no longer be open to the public.
The reason?
Rising crime rates.
I’ve written about this way too often already, but recent events are becoming impossible to ignore.
Andy Warhol reproductions were stolen in the Netherlands a few months ago.
And this week, another museum in the Netherlands was robbed, with rare and invaluable pieces of Romanian history stolen.
The burglars used explosives in the middle of the night and escaped with four valuable objects connected to Romania’s cultural heritage.
“This is a dark day,” Harry Tupan, the general director of the Drents Museum, said in a statement. “We are intensely shocked by the events last night at the museum. In its 170-year existence, there has never been such a major incident. It also gives us enormous sadness towards our colleagues in Romania.”
This incident could spark an international scandal, damage cultural ties between two nations and, eventually, mark the beginning of the decline of the global art market as we know it.
Why?
Because galleries can’t always afford proper security, while governments are struggling to deal with growing crime across parts of Europe.
Overall, the number of crimes recorded in Germany rose to 5.94 million last year, an increase of 5.5% compared with the previous year and 9.3% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.
Sweden now has one of the highest gun death rates per capita in Europe… Since 2013, the number of fatal shootings in the country has more than doubled.
Etc.
So it’s becoming slightly less absurd to imagine a future where international art exhibitions are held inside embassies — some of the most heavily protected spaces in Europe.
Governments somehow always find money for image-building projects abroad, even when they’re cutting social benefits at home.
And here, the responsibility for protecting artworks and organising exhibitions would fall directly on the countries that value their cultural heritage and want to showcase it abroad.
Want to show Romanian treasures?
The Romanian embassy protects them.
Want to organise an exhibition of Ukrainian art?
Do it through the Ukrainian embassy.
Suddenly, cultural diplomacy becomes very literal.
Are we ready for art exhibitions to move into embassies?
No.
Do museums have a better solution?
Apparently not.
Welcome to the new reality!
...your worst artist and best friend,
hEhe and my contemporary art criticism
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All text, photo, and video materials belong to their owners and are for demonstration purposes only. Please do not use them in commercial projects.
