New location for the Kunsthaus Baselland on the Dreispitz site
Published: Wednesday, Apr 10th 2024, 15:50
Updated At: Thursday, Apr 11th 2024, 01:59
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After ten years of planning and construction, the Kunsthaus Baselland opens its new location on the Dreispitz site in Münchenstein on Saturday. Around 25 artists playfully explore what is possible in the cleverly lit premises.
In the spacious entrance area, a large chandelier attracts attention. It consists of dozens of women's underpants that are lit up from within. It is a tongue-in-cheek feminist pamphlet by Pipilotti Rist entitled "Central Hong Kong Chandelier".
It is one of around 25 works and installations that have been created especially for the artistic test of the new halls of the Kunsthaus Baselland on the Dreispitz or have been embedded in this environment. "It is an adventure trip with contemporary art that is intended to show what is possible in the new spaces," said the noticeably enthusiastic director Ines Goldbach at the media tour on Wednesday.
Diverse contemporary art
She attaches great importance to the greatest possible diversity. The artists should have no inhibitions about drilling holes in the walls and ceilings of the converted and extended warehouses where champagne bottles were once stored. With this in mind, the opening exhibition is entitled "Rewilding".
Goldbach has invited around twenty female artists and three male artists. On display are large installations, such as the "Altar of the Precarious" by Swiss artist couple Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger, which is subtly composed of everyday and curious trouvailles. Or a monumental tapestry made from bottle tops by El Anatsui from Ghana. The invited artists come from Basel, Paris, the USA, Ghana and Kuwait.
The new Kunsthaus has now found its harmonious place in the Dreispitz art cluster with the art academy, the House of Electronic Arts and art studios, having previously been located in the somewhat awkward neighborhood of the St. Jakob-Park football stadium.
Bucher Bründler architects from Basel were responsible for the conversion and extension. They added two towers to the former, spacious warehouse, which allow the light from the sky to shimmer into the exhibition halls like inverted lighthouses.
©Keystone/SDA
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