The China Mail - Alex Bodi and Prof. Dr Stefan Haupt agree to collaborate on a legendary art collection in Romania

The focus of this project extends far beyond the mere presentation of art, as the planned exhibition aims to address a major question of our time – one that could scarcely be more topical in the age of mobile payments, cryptocurrencies and increasingly digitised financial systems: What does money mean to people – and how has this meaning changed over the generations?

Alex Bodi has been making repeated visits to Berlin since early 2026. This is in connection with various business ventures involving a Germany-based, internationally active conglomerate with offices in Hong Kong, Zurich, Dubai, Singapore, Bahrain and Ukraine, which is not currently named in connection with these projects.
The projects include the acquisition and refurbishment of 166 flats in Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt; the development of the energy drink ‘BODI’; and a contract between Alex Bodi and CRIF – represented by Managing Director Michael Hoffmann – concerning KYC (customer identification and verification), AML (anti-money laundering) and KYB (business verification in the context of compliance) . CRIF – Centrale Rischi Finanziari S.p.A. – is an internationally active group with 4,200 employees in 30 countries and is one of the market leaders in credit reporting in Europe and South-East Asia https://www.CRIF.de.

At the same time, a comprehensive contractual agreement was reached regarding the development of ALPHAGENETIQ product concepts, involving Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dieter Lazik from the German Slow Medicine Research Institute https://www.SlowMed.de/vita-dieter-lazik.html, based in Potsdam (Brandenburg, Federal Republic of Germany).

A cultural idea emerges from business contacts
In the course of these joint activities, Alex Bodi was also introduced to Prof. Dr Stefan Haupt. Several face-to-face meetings followed in Berlin, including one at the Association of German Guarantee Banks (VDB) https://VDB.ermoeglicher.de with its managing director, Stephan Jansen.

The VDB’s location is certainly symbolic, as the Association of German Guarantee Banks represents interests vis-à-vis governments, ministries, public authorities and the business community. Contacts with the relevant federal ministries and the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) have been part of the VDB’s institutional environment for many years. In 2025 alone, German guarantee banks and SME investment companies in Germany supported financing with a combined loan and investment volume of around 1.96 billion euros.

Discussions on the economy, financing and social change eventually gave rise to a cultural vision:

The Haupt Collection https://Sammlung-Haupt.de, which has been built up over decades, is valued in the high millions and is now set to be transferred to the EU country of Romania.

More than 300 works on the power of money
The thematic private collection, built up by Stefan Haupt since 1993, now comprises more than 300 works. Under the title ‘Thirty Pieces of Silver – Art and Money’, it brings together painting, photography, objects, prints, artist’s books, video and digital art. The focus is not on collecting currency in the traditional numismatic sense, but on the artistic exploration of money, value, power, labour and social recognition. Works from the collection have previously been exhibited at venues including the Bode Museum in Berlin and the Reinbeckhallen. Since 2013, there has also been a collaboration with the Association of German Guarantee Banks.

From the Romanian LEU to the digital age of money
For Alex Bodi and Prof. Dr Stefan Haupt, Romania in particular holds a special appeal as a venue for the exhibition. The country has been part of the European Union since 2007 but is not yet a member of the eurozone; the official currency remains the Romanian leu (RON). As a result, the exhibition could take visitors on a cultural journey through the history of money: from coins and banknotes, through the question of the social value of labour, right up to the present day, where money increasingly exists solely as digital information. Among the collection’s most influential works is ‘Money for Art’ by Lee Mingwei. Folded ten-dollar notes presented their owners with a simple yet fundamental choice: to preserve the sculpture – or to unfold it and spend the money. Other works explore euro coins, the minimum wage, consumerism or the equation ‘time is money’.

For Alex Bodi, Stefan Haupt and the internationally active German partner group, a presentation in Romania is therefore intended to be more than just an art exhibition. It aims to invite people to reflect on value, ownership and the future of money – at a time when our relationship with money is changing technologically faster than ever before. A specific venue and date will be announced once the organisational arrangements have been finalised. The collection will then be transported to Romania by secure courier, insured there and exhibited under guard.