The municipality of Amstelveen is once again entering into discussions with the ailing Cobra Museum. Together with museum director Stefan van Raay and financier Marius Touwen, the municipality will work on a future-proof plan for the museum. Cultural councilor Herbert Raat (VVD) announced this on Wednesday at the start of a scheduled municipal meeting.
Earlier in the day, Raat, together with councilor Adam Elzakalai (VVD, Finance), spoke with Touwen, who had volunteered to financially guarantee the museum. According to Raat, that conversation provided enough confidence to give the museum another chance.
Discussions will be organized in the short term with those involved, a number of independent art experts and entrepreneurs. This should lead to “a future-proof plan supported by the municipal council, the municipal executive and the Cobra Museum” in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a statement. Press release distributed on Wednesday evening of the municipality.
Credit facility
Earlier this week, Touwen had expressed willingness to provide the museum with a credit facility to save it from impending bankruptcy. The structurally loss-making museum is heading for a deficit of 7 tonnes this year and its reserves have been exhausted. The Municipal Executive did not want to guarantee a loan application from the museum to the bank. The city council also recently proposed discontinuing the annual subsidy to the museum.
Touwen (73), major shareholder of Serra Holding and the Red Cross Hospital in Beverwijk, is a great lover and collector of art. The business magazine Quote estimated his fortune last year at 150 million euros. In Het Parool he said: “I see no reason to be so panicky about the museum’s financial situation when I look at the figures.”
The vote planned for the end of September on the proposal to end the subsidy to the museum has been postponed for the time being.