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Art Cologne director hopes climate protesters steer clear

November 12, 2022

The director of Cologne's annual art show has warned climate protesters to avoid the event later this month, saying most of the works are not protected and saying that damaging them "could get expensive."

https://p.dw.com/p/4JQTm
Visitors wear mandatory face mask as they watch an artwork by Spanish artist Baltasar Lobo at the ART COLOGNE fair for Modern and Contemporary Art in Cologne, Germany, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021.
This year's Art Cologne runs from November 17-20Image: Martin Meissner/AP Photo/picture alliance

Daniel Hug, the director of the Art Cologne exhibition, has said he "hopes" that climate protesters will not target the show when it takes place between November 17-20. 

"I hope they do not come," Hug said in an interview with local newspaper the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger published in Saturday's edition. "I support climate protests, I consider the climate crisis very bad. But I'm against the destruction of art." 

'At Art Cologne the pictures are not behind glass'

Hug's comments follow several activists targeting artworks in Germany and around Europe for climate demonstrations in recent weeks, often throwing food or liquid at them in their displays in museums. 

Daniel Hug, director of Art Cologne. File photo.
Daniel Hug said that while he approved of climate protests, he disliked 'the destruction of art'Image: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance

But Hug warned that, unlike in the more renowned recent instances, the artworks at Art Cologne were usually not behind a protective screen or in a frame. 

"At Art Cologne the pictures are not behind glass, and most of them are privately owned. That could get expensive, I would not recommend it. What's more, you can't glue yourself to the frame at our show. You'd just have a bit of canvas stuck to your hand," Hug said. 

Norwegian police reported activists targeting Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" at the National Museum in Oslo on Friday. Past cases have targeted renowned works by van Gogh, Monet and others

Groups including Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion and a German group calling itself Last Generation (Letzte Generation) have arranged such demonstrations.

In most cases the paintings themselves have not been damaged despite other damage to property.

On Thursday, a collection of leading museums around the world issued a joint statement accusing protesters of "seriously underestimating the fragility of these irreplaceable objects." 

Ukraine, inflation unlikely to negatively affect art show

Asked about the impact of other world news on the art show, such as the war in Ukraine or rising energy prices, Hug said "there is always some crisis" and said that he did not think they would have a major impact on the exhibition or the art market. 

"Financially we are still well placed and, if you keep up with the reporting, the art market seems healthy. En vogue art is still in high demand, there are still waiting lists. I don't think the current crises will have an impact on Art Cologne," Hug said.

msh/wmr (dpa, epd)