Art Basel: special programmes in museums and elsewhere
Art Basel is a major venue for the international art world. For one week each year, art is at the centre of attention in Basel. Since its first edition in 1970, Art Basel has evolved into the mother of all art fairs. The original initiative came from the gallery owners Trudl Bruckner, Balz Hilt and Ernst Beyeler.
The Art Basel experience
Art Basel is at once a sales platform, a meeting place and a venue for encounters among art professionals. The core of the event may be at the fair centre, but Basel’s art and culture institutions with their exhibition programmes make a significant contribution to the overall experience. The city’s intimate character – comparable to Venice –, the hospitality and enthusiasm as well as the vibrant ecosystems of the individual art scenes and cultural institutions all play their part in the unique charm of Art Basel.
Superlative combination of events
Basel’s museums and cultural institutions design their exhibition and event programmes so that they dove-tail with this fair.
With its exhibition When We See Us, Kunstmuseum Basel is, for example, putting figurative art from Africa and the African diaspora from the past 100 years on display. Fondation Beyeler, for the first time in its history, is turning the entire museum and adjoining park into a venue for experimental presentations of contemporary art. And Museum Tinguely is hosting a solo exhibition by installation and video artist Mika Rottenberg.
In its third edition at Bruderholz, Basel Social Club will be realising an intervention that aims to provide low-threshold access to contemporary art for a wide audience, free of charge.
One of Art Basel’s special features is the Parcours presentation. At various public spaces around town, installations, sculptures, interventions and performances, all aligned to their location, invite audiences to consider the links between the artwork and its urban environment.
For the 2024 edition, the outdoor part of Art Basel will be closer to the Messe Basel premises. The associated artistic venues are concentrated around Clarastrasse, which connects Grossbasel and Kleinbasel. One of the highlights along this route is due to take place at Hotel Merian: a performance programme compiled by renowned art institutions and geared to both local and international audiences.
Art Basel in Basel | Art Basel
Kunstmuseum Basel – Kunstmuseum Basel
Fondation Beyeler | Moderne & zeitgenössische Kunst
Grösste Sammlung kinetischer Werke von Jean Tinguely | Museum Tinguely Basel
