© Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Tokyo 1980
Projekt
„Swiss Galleries go Digital!“
The SAMA wants to play a leading and mediating role for all market participants in the art trade and galleries and, beyond that, for the entire ecosystem of the art market in Switzerland. With the support of funding from the federal government and the canton of Zurich[1], it is setting up a new platform on which galleries, art and antiques dealers can access digital tools in order to assert themselves in the digital world and open up new business models: “Swiss Galleries go Digital! A start has been made with the newly launched website; the first cooperation partners have been evaluated, integrated and are offering their technological services. The SAMA has negotiated preferential conditions for its members, which can be passed on exclusively to them. The platform is built openly and is intended to grow. For this reason, the SAMA continues to monitor technological developments on an ongoing basis and is evaluating further possible cooperation partners.
[1] With the support of the Federal Office of Culture and the Culture Department of the Canton of Zurich as part of the Covid Financial Aid programme “Transformation Projects”.
More news
Protection of cultural property
In the area of cultural property protection, the EU has issued a new Regulation (EU) 2019/880 on the import of cultural goods. The implementation period for the individual member states runs until 2025. The aim of the regulation is to further tighten the import of cultural goods unlawfully exported from their countries of origin into the EU, regardless of whether objects are imported directly from their countries of origin or via third countries. Archaeological cultural goods are a particular focus of the new EU regulation and generally require an import licence. The SAMA is in dialogue with the FOC's Cultural Property Transfer Office in order to find a practical response to this tightening of EU regulations for the Swiss art market.
Looted art
In the area of looted art, the Federal Council has decided to set up an independent commission of experts to deal in particular with Nazi-looted art and colonial cultural assets, implementing parts of the Pult motion (I) adopted by the Councils. The ordinance adopted by the Federal Council came into force on 1 January 2024. The SAMA is in favour of the appropriate involvement of the Swiss art trade in the commission of experts to be created.
Money Laundering Prevention
The "Motion Pult" (subordination of the art trade to the stricter money laundering regulations for financial intermediaries) introduced in the Swiss parliament is based on false assumptions and the demanded new legal regulation would result in an enormous additional bureaucratic effort for the entire art trade without necessity. The VKMS counters this by providing our members with pragmatically suitable digital tools in the sense of genuine self-regulation, which, in addition to KYC rules, also take over sanction controls and thus offer a genuine counter-model.