One hundred years ago sending a person to accompany the artwork in transit may have been the only option to guarantee its safe handling up to its destination. Today this is not the case anymore. The fine art industry has made incredible progresses in the development of efficient crating solutions and every country has its own pool of shipping companies specialized in the transportation of artworks and other luxury items.
These progresses, the demand for more environmentally friendly solutions in the art industry and the needs dictated by the pandemic in 2020-2022 opened the horizons to different couriering options.
Table of Contents
IN-PERSON COURIER
This traditional couriering form involves a person accompanying the artwork at every shipment stage until it reaches its destination.
The in-person courier supervises the artwork's loading onto the lorry, transfer to the airport, palletisation, and loading onto the aircraft. They will fly on the same airplane as the artwork, possible on both passenger and cargo flights. Upon arrival, the courier supervises the artwork's offloading, de-palletisation, loading onto the lorry, and delivery to the destination. Usually, the courier remains on-site to oversee unpacking and installation.
Please note, due to strict security regulations at airports worldwide, in-person couriers cannot perform their duties alone. At both the departure and arrival airports, they first meet with the airport supervisor appointed by the local fine art shipping agent. In the presence of the airport supervisor, the courier gains access to the cargo area and the area underneath the aircraft to supervise (de-)palletising and (off-)loading.
An in-person courier may also choose to fly separately to the artwork's destination to personally supervise the unpacking and installation.
BOOKEND COURIER(S)
Once the aircraft takes off, the artwork will not move, and nobody can access it until its off-loading at the arrival airport. Therefore, one might argue that having a courier on board makes little sense.
Bookend couriering has all the in-person courier advantages during the shipment, but the courier does not board the plane with the artwork. It involves two different in-person couriers: one at the departure airport and one at the arrival airport.
At the departure airport, an in-person courier accompanies the work from loading onto the lorry, transfer to the airport, palletisation, and loading onto the aircraft. The courier and the airport supervisor stay on-site until the aircraft takes off. At this point, the airport supervisor confirms the artwork's safe departure to the fine art shipping agent at the destination.
At the arrival airport, a second local in-person courier supervises the artwork's offloading, de-palletisation, loading onto the lorry, and delivery to the destination. Upon request, this local courier may also supervise unpacking and installation.
Personally, I love working with bookend couriers. It’s an incredible way of guaranteeing supervision during the artwork's most sensitive movements, supporting the borrowing institution financially, which will not need to pay for an international flight for the courier, and reducing the transaction's climate impact.
REMOTE COURIER
A remote courier (also referred to as a virtual or digital courier) supervises the shipment, unpacking, and installation of the artwork from behind a computer screen, without physically accompanying the work.
To supervise the shipment, the transport agents set up a group chat on a messaging app (WhatsApp, Threema, or similar), including the airport supervisors, remote courier, and other relevant parties. The shipping agents and airport supervisors keep all parties updated by sending status messages, images, and/or videos of any artwork movement in almost real time.
For example, if the artwork is traveling to a museum for an exhibition, the museum registrar will confirm the artwork's safe arrival and set up a virtual appointment on Teams, Skype, or Zoom with the lender's courier to supervise unpacking and installation via webcam.
At the agreed day and time, the remote courier connects with the museum registrar on Teams, Skype, or Zoom. The registrar introduces the team, who will perform unpacking and installation (typically, a conservator and two or more art handlers). She also shows the space where unpacking will occur and the crate containing the artwork. Then, if the courier agrees, the team proceeds with unpacking, condition checking, and installing. The registrar stays on-site to liaise with the courier and answer questions, as necessary, unless the conservator agrees to take over this responsibility.
COURIER SHARING
This may be the case for artworks traveling on loan for an exhibition. Very often, a work will be flying with many other loans by different lenders departing from the same city. In this case, the lenders and borrowing institution may agree to appoint just one courier, who will act on behalf of all the lenders.
Financially and logistically, this would help the borrowing institution tremendously. It may not always be possible, but asking does not cost anything.
HOW DO I CHOOSE THE BEST FORM OF COURIERING FOR MY ARTWORK?
There is no internationally established rule for this. Each artist, collector, gallery, and museum have their own policy concerning couriers.
In my experience and very personal, pragmatic opinion, a courier shall accompany an artwork (in-person or remotely), if and only if s/he can actually contribute to its safety and/or be of assistance during unpacking and installation. This may be the case of artworks that are extremely fragile, present particular challenges during the shipment (e.g. oversized objects) or need specific skills and expertise during the installation.
There is nothing more annoying for a borrower than arranging and paying the costs for an international in-person courier, just to find out at its arrival that s/he has never seen the work before, cannot answer any questions about it or contribute in any way.
A courier does not need to be a person with a big, fat title. The best couriers are often registrars, who know the challenges of shipping a specific work; conservators, who restored the work recently; or an art handler, who unpacked and installed it several times in the past.
The couriering options listed above are also not mutually exclusive and can be combined, as needed. For example, a collector may decide to renounce to an in-person courier, but still appoint an airport supervisor and have his collection manager supervise unpacking and installing remotely. Or s/he may decide to send an in-person courier for the installation, but not for the shipment.
My personal suggestion is to stop and think twice before sending an in-person courier. Is the courier really necessary or are you sending one just because you can? Are your couriering conditions, such as travel class and number of overnight stays, reasonable or is your courier only getting a nice vacation at the borrower’s expense? Is there any chance that you could support the borrower by covering some of the couriering costs yourself?
OVERALL, THIS IS MY PERSONAL APPROACH TO COURIERING
Is the work particularly fragile, difficult to install and you are worried that it will be mishandled during shipping or installation? Then please do send an in-person courier.
Is your work in stable condition, but its value is very high and you worry it will be mishandled at the airport? A bookend courier and/or the appointment of an airport supervisor may be a good solution.
Your artwork does not present any challenges during the shipment, but its installation requires special skills and knowledge? I look forward to meeting a courier, either virtually or in-person, who can assist by sharing his experience. An installation manual sent to the borrower in advance would also be welcome.
Your work doesn't present specific difficulties in its hanging, but you need to supervise its unpacking and installation for liability, insurance or any other reason? Let’s agree on virtual couriering.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS ARTICLE TO SPREAD KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS.
HERE BELOW you can download a summary of this article in PDF.
Comentários