Exhibition program 2023

Pia Fries
February 3–July 9, 2023
Opening: February 2, 6:30pm

Since the 1990s, Pia Fries has undisputedly been one of the most important international figures in the field of painting. Born in 1955 in Beromünster, Switzerland, she relocated to Germany in the 1980s to study at the renowned Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Gerhard Richter, where she became one of his master students. She has since developed an individual, distinctive body of work, which explores the possibilities of painting and space through the medium’s intrinsic materiality. This new, free, and also open concept of painting has earned Pia Fries numerous awards and invitations to renowned exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, as well as appointments to several professorships. Alongside works from the 1990s, the exhibition at Kunsthaus Baselland shows her most recent works for the first time in Switzerland. They represent a new artistic milestone for Pia Fries. An accompanying catalog is in the works. The exhibition is curated by Ines Goldbach.

Simone Holliger
February 3–July 9, 2023
Annual Exterior Project
February 3–December 31, 2023
Opening: February 2, 6:30pm

For several years now, award-winning, internationally active artist Simone Holliger has worked with carefully chosen materials. Through an experimental, process based approach, she creates sculptures that are typically several meters in height and width. They grow in and together with the space surrounding them. Voluminous and compact and at the same time permeable and light, the objects play with our visual habits and invite us to consider the solid and the empty, the recto and the verso, the visible and the hidden. Born in 1986 and living and working in the Basel area, the artist also thinks about the space, builds and shapes it—its texture and tonal value, as well as the smells, temperatures, and people that inhabit it. At Kunsthaus Baselland, Simone Holliger will make her largest institutional presentation in Basel to date. Concurrently with her solo exhibition, she will also design the Annual Exterior Project 2023. The exhibition is curated by Ines Goldbach, together with Ines Tondar.

Nature. Fields. Memory 
Monira Al Qadiri, Joan Jonas, Sigalit Landau, Maya Schweizer, and Hannah Weinberger
March 10–July 9, 2023
Opening: March 9, 6:30pm

This group exhibition focuses on large-scale installations, particularly video works that directly address the themes of nature, sound, memory, and participation. Through an approach that is both poetic and immersive, they enable the viewer to have a unique experience and ultimately gain a deeper understanding of these issues. Many of the works are concerned with questions of heedfulness towards natural spaces, history, time, identity, memory, in connection with sound works and performative practices. Both urban and natural spaces—such as oceans, lakes, and deserts—are experienced as interfaces of individual and collective behaviors. They serve as sources for cinematic, textual, and performative observation. In their perception of these familiar or even inaccessible and hidden places and spaces, the featured artists uncover social and political realities as well as inscribed histories and narratives, creating highly striking images and sound fields. This will be the first time that these works will be shown in Switzerland. The exhibition is accompanied by performative evenings and concerts with artists like René Pulfer, which will take place in a series called Soundfields. The exhibition is curated by Ines Goldbach, together with Käthe Walser.

Publich Art @Freilager-Platz
#1: Appearing Rooms. Jeppe Heins Wasserpavillon in Basel 
May 26–September 3, 2023
Opening: May 25, 5pm
Location: Freilager-Platz

​Publich Art @FREILAGER-PLATZ is an initiative by the FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel (HGK; Claudia Perren, Director), House of Electronic Arts Basel (HEK; Sabine Himmelsbach, Director), Kunsthaus Baselland (KHBL; Ines Goldbach, Director), and Interessengemeinschaft Freilagerplatz (IG, Chairman Peter Driessen). It pursues the shared aim of enlivening Freilagerplatz with alternating, publicly accessible art in order to sustainably increase its visitor appeal and strengthen the neighborhood. The plan is to present different outstanding artistic works each year, whose impact will be felt in the Basel-City and Basel-Country cantons as well as far beyond. The internationally renowned and socially committed artist Jeppe Hein will kick things off with his water feature Appearing Rooms. This project will mark the first time that a fountain sculpture has been installed on the Freilager-Platz, offering residents in particular an invitation to stop by and enjoy their time. #1 is the responsibility of Ines Goldbach, Kunsthaus Baselland.

Next Generation
Graduation exhibition
Bachelor and Master
Institute Art Gender Nature HGK FHNW in Basel
August 26–September 10, 2023
Opening: August 25

Nearly 50 graduate students will show their final projects at Kunsthaus Baselland. Now in its eighth year, this exhibition is the result of a comprehensive partnership between the Institute Art Gender Nature (Chus Martínez) and Kunsthaus Baselland (Ines Goldbach), reflecting the longstanding, important collaboration between the two institutions and their directors. Curated by El Palomar—a collective created in Barcelona in 2013 by Mariokissme (Mario Páez, Campillos, b. 1980, Málaga) and R. Marcos Mota (Rafa Marcos, b. 1988, Tarragona)—and Chus Martínez.

Performancepreis Schweiz
Prix Suisse de la Performance
Premio Svizzero della Performance
Swiss Performance Art Award 
Performances and Award Ceremony: September 23–24, 2023
Focus program: September 25–October 1, 2023

For many years, this vibrant and diverse scene has been given active support by the Swiss Performance Art Award. The nationwide competition is held annually, offering a suitable platform that attracts a wide audience. Performances are staged over several days, judged by a jury of experts, and finally honored with the Swiss Performance Art Award. In 2023, Kunsthaus Baselland will host this important event across two days. It will be accompanied by a one-week focus program. This will give the participating artists the opportunity to present their performances to a large public. Curated by Ines Goldbach and Eva-Maria Knüsel.

Chiara Bersani
From October 27, 2023
Opening: October 26, 6:30pm
Kunsthaus Baselland in cooperation with GAMeC, Bergamo

Deserters (Disertori) is a live installation by Chiara Bersani (1984), with which GAMeC won the 11th edition of the Italian Council: the program aimed at supporting Italian contemporary art in the world promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity within the Italian Ministry of Culture. Through this work—consisting of a performance for actors with motor disabilities and a large sculptural environment—the artist investigates the broader concept of accessibility, from an aesthetic perspective rooted in proximity and relationships. The work will be produced over the period of the artist’s residency in Bergamo, which will conclude with a series of event days, during which the public will be invited to attend the final rehearsals of the performance in preparation for its debut at the Kunsthaus Baselland in Muttenz/Basel, Switzerland, which will host Bersani’s first solo exhibition in a European institution in the autumn. Curated by Lorenzo Giusti, Director of the GAMeC, and Ines Goldbach.

Director/Curator: Ines Goldbach  
Director’s Assistant: Martina Stähli
Communications, Publications and Assistant Curator: Ines Tondar
Organisation Office: Salome Tramèr
Education: Meret Glausen