The Silk Road
Kristy Harry and I, Veda Lane, met in September when we started the Art Logistics program at Sotheby's Institute of Art. I've had the pleasure of working with Kristy on a few projects and talking about art over a glass of wine. Kristy is focused on using the Art Logistics education and her previous 15 years of high risk logistics experience to make art transit and handling more transparent and streamlined.
In this article, Kristy introduces a new transit system which could have positive economic and environmental implications for the art market.
Detail of a 14th-Century Illuminated Map Depicting Niccolo & Maffeo Polo. Source unknown.
The Silk Roads were travelled from 2 BCE to the 19th Century CE and connected continents from as far east as Hangzhou, China to as far west as Southern Europe. Jade and Silk were the primary exports, but the route served the even more significant purpose of establishing diplomatic relations between Asian, African and Middle Eastern empires as well as spreading culture, art and religious dogma.
This January, the Silk Road re-opened with the first rail shipment of 44 containers of commercial goods departing the Chinese city of Yiwu and 33 of the 44 containers arriving 17 days later in the UK. The cargo travelled 7,500 miles (12,000km) on what is officially termed the Yiwu-London Line, crossing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, offloading cargo at various stops before entering the Channel Tunnel and arriving at its final destination: the Barking station depot.
But what does this mean for the art world?
A regular, more environmentally friendly way of moving art and objects from Asia to Europe and back is now a real option. The art world is no longer wholly dependent on air cargo shipment, which provides immediate satisfaction at a high cost or ocean freight, which provides lower cost but a long transit time.
The new Silk Road route currently calls 15 cities from its start in China to termination in London making the trip in 18 days end to end. Very impressive, given that the train trainloads from narrow track rail cars to wide track rail cars and back again when transiting Russia. This difference in track width was widely believed to be a strategic tactic to discourage foreign invasion when the rails were laid by the former USSR, but still has a direct impact on the continuity of rail transit across the continent.
An alternative Silk Road route that leverages the Russian track gauge component only, Copenhagen based global shipping conglomerate Maerskline recently announced its new AE19 Ocean-Rail-Ocean route that utilises the rail route from the Asian coast of Russia directly to St. Petersburg. The trip from Shanghai to St Petersburg will only take 18 days, as opposed to 42 days by only sea. The more the routes are utilised, the more regular service becomes, with increased demand boosting schedule frequency. More frequent service will improve the movement of consolidated artworks ahead of exhibitions, auctions, and private sales to be more dynamic and less reliant on expensive and less carbon effective air transport.
Global shipping lines quantify the movement of goods by the Twenty Foot Equivalent Units , or “TEU” metric which is the smallest standardised container unit. In 2018, 351,000 (TEU) were carried between China and Europe, 34 percent more than in 2017. Of those 351,000 units, two-thirds of were imported into Europe from China, one third from Europe back to China. This metric might look unsettling, but eastbound numbers are trending upward at a rate of 51% each year.
The forecast for growth in these routes is very positive. In 2018, around 17 trains per day made the journey between China and Europe, the estimated number in 2019 jumps to 21 and the goal by the end of 2020 is forecasted at 27 moving almost 2 million TEU per year.
With a transit time of 18 days and reasonable on-board accommodations, a courier could comfortably travel with high value cargo and experience less risk of separation, as security involved when boarding a train is less restrictive than an airplane. Reasonably sized works can be taken onboard directly without being handled in a cargo terminal or requiring couriers obtain and present credentials to escort works onto a tarmac
Shipping by train would also substantially reduce carbon emissions, especially with the ability to consolidate standard smaller sized works with larger and heavier pieces on a single train. Passenger and Cargo aircraft are limited to specific sizes based on the type of aircraft and the cargo must be carefully balanced which often displaces cargo, requiring additional handling, storage and costs. The below graph demonstrates the CO2 emissions savings of the rail shipment of a 400KG crate versus by car or airplane.
With a general rate of moving 500KG of freight on this route of about £120, this significant savings over air shipment coupled with the emissions savings is even more of a reason to seriously consider using the Silk Road routes for shipping art and objects.
There are still issues that continue to require investment and thought to making this route more efficient and even more cost and environmentally effective. Reducing wait times at borders decreases operating costs and emissions. Border infrastructure, customs handling, language and culture barriers are all factors that need to be considered and streamlined to continue to make these routes accessible and attractive. Other factors that need to be addressed in the future will be the consolidation and synchronisation of operations across countries and operators to manage the loading/offloading processes and bookings as well as hardware compatibility such as tracks, cars, etc.
The Silk Road has long been the means of the global dissemination of ideas and artworks alongside the commercial trade that cultivated it. Utilising the renewed Silk Road route to continue this tradition is the ultimate way of honouring our past and ensuring our continued cultural development well into the future. In a time where nationalism around the globe is on the rise and economic unions are fracturing, what the Silk Road represents is a reminder that culture, humanity, and trade are still thriving.
Kristy Harry,
Contributor, MADE IN BED