Art Parcours 2024

This year, Art Parcours has been staged in Kleinbasel: on and around Claraplatz and along Clarastrasse, the street leading to the Messeplatz, the main venue of Art Basel. Many who live in this part of the city come from other lands - Kleinbasel has a much larger percentage of foreigners than the city on the other side of the river. Thus, it is fitting that one of the artworks, placed prominently in front of the St. Clara church, consists of multiple migrant bags. Filled with locally sourced soil and planted with common, weed-like plants, "Portable Garden" by the late Austrian artist Lois Weinberger addresses issues of global importance, such as 'migratory patterns of birds and winds defying borders.' This is what art experts tell us. Yet, one wonders what the colourful plastic bags, now displayed on Claraplatz, might mean to casual passers-by, people from all corners of the world who might have come to Kleinbasel carrying bags just like these. 

On the other side of Claraplatz, in an imposing modernist building, two display windows now feature large moving hands that appear to caress tree bark and rocks. Replacing the usual clothing items of the "Villiger Mode" store, these animated pieces by the Polish artist Joanna Piotrowska make use of photographic props and animation. Layered with the activity of the surroundings reflected in glass, the artwork's slow yet intent movements made me watch the display windows as if spellbound. After a while, I entered the store - no-one was inside except for the lady proprietor. 'With the art in your display windows, you must now have many more people visit,' I said looking at all the clothing racks. 'No, not at all. Nobody comes in now that they don't see dresses displayed in the windows,' she said, and added: 'It's only for one week, that's ok.' 

Walking further along Clarastrasse toward the Messeplatz, one has to stop at the house no. 11, one of only a few historicist buildings that haven't been replaced by something more "modern." Built in the late 19th century, this multifamily house stands on a property that extends from Clarastrasse all the way to Claramattweg. After passing through a rather dark hallway, one is surprised by a bright, green courtyard and its singing birds. A narrow pathway leads to a former carriage house - its large window opens a view into a distillery. It is here, in the "Stadtbrennerei & Kelter" that the Mexican artist Ximena Garrido-Lessa has placed her work. Made of ceramic and stainless steel, the pipes and tubes of her "Conversion Systems" refer to 'tensions between past and present, between cultural heritage and globalisation.' They fit perfectly with the workings of the distillery - a wonderful synergy.

What is great about Art Parcours is not only that it presents art in unexpected settings, but also that it allows us to discover places otherwise not publicly accessible. Who would have known what hides behind the symmetrical, ornamented facade? Peeking up the staircase leading to the upper floors, we can only imagine how it might be to live here, between a noisy street and a serene garden. Hope residents don't mind a casual visitor sneaking up the stairs. 

Further toward the Messeplatz and on the other street side, at Clarastrasse 30, we get to experience yet another artwork finding its place inside the complex workings of an existing shop. "Come Home" is the name of the architectural structure Alvaro Barrington has created specifically for Art Parcours - nested within the "Tropical Zone" store which specialises in import of African products to Switzerland, it 'invites contemplation about cultural production across the African diaspora.' It also encourages mingling between the store's regular customers and Art Basel visitors. Interweaving of cultures, broadening of perspectives, one may say. Produce displayed within Barrington's structure  is for sale, like everything else in the store. And like the artwork itself.

These are just four of twenty-two artworks presented in Kleinbasel by this year's Art Parcours. They invite us to learn more about the neighbourhood, its architecture and its people. As visitors to Art Basel, we can experience art in a novel context, we talk about inclusion and interaction. It would be interesting to hear what people who live here and who use these places every day say.