What makes a good gallerist? Vision, loyalty, risk — or something else entirely?

In this eighth episode, Micaela Dixon speaks with Daniel Hug, Director of ART COLOGNE and board member of the Moholy-Nagy Foundation, about the enduring “myth” of the good gallerist — and what it reveals about the shifting ethics, ambitions, and responsibilities of the art world.

Drawing on his own path from gallerist to fair director, Hug reflects on the gallery as a fragile ecosystem — part sanctuary, part stage — and on how its moral and cultural purpose has evolved in an era of globalisation, speculation, and speed. And as the conversation unfolds, Cologne itself comes into focus: an art city undergoing renewal, where new energy and vision are transforming both the local and international landscape.

With his signature mix of candour and insight, Hug asks: what does it mean today to believe in artists, in art, and in the work of shaping context?

💬 “The myth of the good gallerist is powerful because it speaks to belief — belief in art, in artists, and in what art can still do.” — Daniel Hug

FAIR ENOUGH is a podcast by ART COLOGNE in collaboration with TEXTE ZUR KUNST, bringing together artists, curators, writers, and thinkers to examine how art responds to the urgencies of our time.

Season 1 marks TEXTE ZUR KUNST’s 35th anniversary with the theme: There Is No Art Without Criticism.