‘Bring Your Own Mask’: German Art Galleries Will Reopen in a New Reality Next Week, Giving Other Dealers a Preview of Things to Come

Galleries in Austria and Germany are cautiously preparing to
reopen their doors in the coming weeks as governments ease business
restrictions—providing art dealers in regions still under lockdown
a glimpse of what may well be a new normal.

While a few smaller galleries in Austria began reopening last
week, several German galleries have now announced that they will
reopen as early as next Monday, April 20. In a statement, Berlin
gallery Thomas Schulte announced that it was “pleased” to be
reopening its exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe’s X, Y, and Z
Portfolios, which are being shown together for the first time in
Berlin. The gallery reopens on Tuesday, April 21. “The rules of
conduct practiced in recent weeks still apply, and a maximum of two
visitors at a time will be admitted,” the gallery adds.

At a press conference this week, the German chancellor Angela
Merkel said that non-essential businesses with spaces smaller than
800-square-meters (8,600 square feet) could reopen on Monday, April
20, while adhering to strict social distancing rules. Masks are not
required but are strongly recommended. “We must not be
careless now,” Merkel said. “We must remain
focused—the situation is fragile.”

The easing of the rules will vary across the German states. In
North Rhine-Westphalia, the state that encompasses gallery-rich
cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, showrooms that are more than
800-square-meters (8,600 square feet) may also be opened. In
Bavaria, one of the hardest hit states by the novel coronavirus,
business operations are only allowed to start up on April 27.

“I am more than thrilled to be opening again. Galleries cannot
exist in an online-only world,” dealer André Schlechtriem tells
Artnet News. “My gallery is a personal social space where every
visitor is greeted personally by myself or my staff. We are always
happy to answer questions and talk about the art we present. That’s
what we live for.” The gallery will reopen next week, beginning
with a weekly rotating presentation of shows that will be strictly
offline titled “Berliner Luft,” meaning Berlin Air. The gallery is
asking visitors to limit their time in the gallery to 15 minutes,
wear a mask, and enter one at a time.

The cautious re-openings do not mean that the German art market is
moving back into motion. Berlin Gallery Weekend and Art Cologne,
the country’s two premier art market events, have both been
postponed and the economic crisis is still looming. Due to the
ongoing closure of borders, many planned exhibitions with
international artists will likely still be on hold.

Suppliers across Germany are bracing for a 30 to 40 percent drop
in sales for 2020, according to a report in Handelsblatt. Berlin
gallery Klemm’s tells the news outlet that it expects a 30 percent
drop in turnover this year. And while financial support from the
German government through its efficient bailout plan has helped to
mitigate the economic crisis for galleries, it does not mean that
the usual tides of collectors will be showing up any time soon.

More Austrian galleries have also announced that they will be
reopening. “Please bring your own mask,” Bechter Kastowsky Galerie,
based in Vienna and Schaan, requests in their announcement.
“Confinement and home office can be tough. We have just spent a
month travelling between table chairs, couch chairs and the bed,”
the Vienna gallery Emmanuel Layr writes, also asking visitors to
come with masks, a legal requirement in Austria.

Others are waiting to hear more news before they make the leap
to reopening. Dealers will also have to think carefully about how
to mitigate typically busy events like openings, screenings, and
talks. Munich-based dealer Deborah Schamoni, who will remained
closed until the end of April in keeping with the Bavarian state
rules, says she is contemplating three-day-long openings to avoid
the crush. Across Germany, large gatherings are still banned until
August 31.

At the press conference on Tuesday, Merkel impressed the media
with a highly coherent explanation of why physical distancing will
remain essential to curbing the effects of the global health
crisis. The former chemist explained that, currently,
the reproduction number of the virus in Germany is 1 (meaning
one person infects one other). If those numbers were to go up to
1.1, Merkel says the German health system could be overwhelmed by
October. And if it were to go up to 1.2, hospitals could be
overwhelmed by July.

The post ‘Bring Your Own Mask’: German Art Galleries Will
Reopen in a New Reality Next Week, Giving Other Dealers a Preview
of Things to Come appeared first on artnet News.