Image courtesy of Basel Tourismus
August 25, 2020
Articles

A contemporary art itinerary around Basel curated by Boris Magrini

As part of our digital culture guide to the city of Basel, curator Boris Magrini takes us on a contemporary art trip, from day through to night, around the best art hotspots in town.
Words by Boris Magrini

The city of Basel offers an incredible number of museums and exhibition spaces, from larger institutions such as the Beyeler Foundation and Schaulager to small artist-run spaces. This itinerary takes you to discover contemporary art places where living artists are exhibited. It also assumes that your day lasts 48 hours and you have a teleportation machine, or you can simply take advantage of the excellent public transport network!

Start your day visiting the most famous art centres and museums, which are mainly located in the characteristic old town. The Kunsthalle, directed by the renowned curator Elena Filipovic, is the place to discover solo exhibitions of the most current international artists. Not far away, the Kunstmuseum, especially the contemporary section with its building located near the Rhine, offers important solo and thematic exhibitions. Go up the river to the Museum Tinguely, which not only houses the collection of the famous Swiss artist, but also regularly hosts solo exhibitions by contemporary artists thematically close to Jean Tinguely, thanks to the intelligent work of director Roland Wetzel and his team. Not far from the city centre, although already in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, is the Kunsthaus Baselland. Director Ines Goldbach curates an international programme and regularly promotes Swiss artists who often start their careers here. Finally, continue on to Freilagerplatz, a former industrial space that has recently been converted into a cultural district, home to architecture offices, studios active in design and new technologies such as Fluxdock and iArt, the remarkable Radio X and the FHNW Academy of Art and Design. The director of the Art institute, Chus Martínez, also curates Der Tank, with exhibitions of invited artists and students of the academy. The Freilagerplatz is the ideal place for your lunch break, with various dining options or simply picnic with local students and architects on the large square. Don’t miss out on visiting us at HeK Basel, which is also located here.

Boris Magrini © Karin Salathé

On the way back to the centre and before continuing on to Kleinbasel, stop at Salts, one of the city’s most prominent offspaces created and directed by the talented Samuel Leuenberger. A good number of the city’s artist-run spaces are located in the vibrant and multicultural district on the north side of the river. Unfortunately, these spaces are sometimes short-lived, but Austellungsraum Klingental, established in 1974, and Kaskadenkondensator, with a focus on performance, are always running. New spaces have recently arisen, for example Palazzina, where young artists and their studios reside, and Symbiont Space, a place for dialogue between art and science created by Roland Fischer.

In the evening you will preferably stay in Kleinbasel, where the hottest bars and clubs are located. To stay fit for the long night, why not take the opportunity to jog along the river, with its spectacular landscape of old town houses on the opposite side? Head to the Museum Tinguely for a run to Dreirosenbrücke, where you’ll also find an outdoor area for bodyweight exercises in an urban setting, along with hip hop dancers, basketball players, or young people practicing their new moves for Tik Tok. For dinner, go to the legendary Hirscheneck, an autonomous space where you can find a distinctly punk and anarchist clientele, and which hosts underground concerts ranging from death metal to uncompromising techno. Or choose more refined restaurants with local cuisine, such as Platanenhof and La Fourchette.

Fondation Beyeler, LezBroz 2019, Courtesy of Basel Tourismus
FHNW Academy of Art and Design

After dinner, hit the bars visited by a mixed and creative audience, such as Flore, Grenzwert, Nebel and Renée, which often stays open till early morning. The night is just getting started, and Basel offers several clubs with cutting-edge programming and great sound systems. Electronic music is effervescent and places like Kaschemme and Humbug are worth a visit, especially the more experimental Wurm, which counts music expert Michi Zaugg as one of his programmers. If you want to listen to some excellent contemporary classical music, check out when the Ensemble Phoenix concerts take place at the Gare du Nord. To finish off the night, head to Elysia club (this one is located in the Dreispitz district) or Nordstern, both of which feature major international producers. The more recent Rouine is still a niche, but already very popular and offers a more eclectic program. Know that many clubs are closed in the summer, but if you want to go out in this season, you can hang out in the Holzpark Klybeck area, with an almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere due to the artist-created buildings in an industrial space by the Rhine.

Salts, Basel
Platanenhof restaurant, Basel
Keep up to date with My Art Guides
Sign up to our newsletter and stay in the know with all worldwide contemporary art events