A passion for art

Secure, specialist fine art transport
Your valuable artworks are transported in climate-controlled trucks with air suspension, specifically designed for the transport of fine art. You can monitor their progress at all times via a track and trace system. Moreover, your collection will be secured during the art transport via an advanced system linked to an external control room.

Worldwide art transport & customs facilities

The Katoen Natie Business Unit Art transports works of art all over the world.
Depending on the type of object, the available timescale and your budget, you can opt for sea freight, air freight, road transport or a combination thereof. The packing is adapted to the type of transport and the requirements in the country of destination.

Our customs department will provide support with any mode of art transport. They will also deal with any import and export queries, anywhere in the world.

Inventory

Our bespoke WMS (Warehouse Management System) guarantees that your items are 100% traceable and easy to locate. Each item is registered in the system with a QR code and its exact location in the warehouse.
We also record the history of each item:

• How often has your item been stored in our art storage?
• Previous condition reports
• Customs documentation
• Dimensions and weight.
• …

Obviously, we are happy to share this information with you to ensure that you have an insight into your collection at all times.

Condition Reports

Our accredited restorers can also provide condition reports of your items, to enable you to verify their condition (e.g. following removal or fine art transport). Our condition reports can be brief, e.g. with a few superficial photographs, or extremely detailed with an in-depth review of the item and its history.

Art handling and exhibition construction

Are you looking for art logistics support for a complex project? The Katoen Natie Business Unit Art supports and coordinates international exhibitions and loans from start to finish. We plan the necessary art transports and handle customs clearance. Our art handlers assist with the exhibition construction or removal of your collection. Art handling is an art, so our art handlers receive specific training in how to package, move and install your artworks, ranging from large to small items, stone to textile, in a museum or at your own premises.

Courier Services

Is your work of art facing a long journey, involving different types of transport? If so, it can be accompanied to its final destination by a courier, in accordance with your specific instructions. Upon arrival we will prepare a condition report to verify the state of the item.

In order to provide maximum protection for your works of art during the fine art transport, Katoen Natie will provide art packing and crating tailored to the specifications of the item in question. This ranges from soft packaging materials to reusable and bespoke crates. The packing can be traced if necessary via a track and trace system.

Katoen Natie Business Unit Art organizes fine art transports by land in climate-controlled trucks with air suspension, specifically designed for the transport of fine art. You can monitor their progress at all times via an advanced track and trace system. Moreover, your collection will be secured during the art transport via an advanced system linked to an external control room.

Each item is carefully examined upon arrival, because vermin represents an insidious threat to art and heritage collections. That is why the Katoen Natie Business Unit Art avoids any kind of risk. If in doubt, an item will be quarantined and monitored for a specific period of time. If the item is contaminated, Katoen Natie has the necessary expertise to provide appropriate treatment in our ICM® (Integrated Contamination Management) room.

ICM is a technique to eliminate pests and mold by heating the material to maximum 52°C in controlled humidity. The treatment is 100% effective as it kills not only insects, but also eggs and larvae. Overall the treatment takes barely 24 hours, is suitable for most materials and ecologically sound.

Once the objects have been inspected and approved, we continue to closely monitor the collections in our art storage. Our partner conducts frequent inspections to detect any kind of flying or crawling insects or rodents. Furthermore, all our warehousing areas are equipped with traps specifically suited to the materials that are stored there. Paintings, for example, require a different approach than carpets.

Finally, all our depots are kept dust free. We remove the dust from any item that enters an art storage and dry clean our warehousing areas on a weekly basis.

An emergency in your exhibition rooms or at your private home? Our art handlers and curators will immediately be on hand to evacuate your art collection to an emergency art storage. If necessary, our expert partner will treat or restore the collection.