ABC BASEL

Some cities are defined by boundaries; Basel is defined by continuity. Here, art does not stay confined to museums or institutions—it flows through streets, homes, and everyday life, becoming inseparable from the city itself. Art and civic care are intertwined: those who create, collect, or exhibit are actively shaping a shared cultural ecosystem, built on centuries of commitment, generosity, and public trust. This book offers a curated editorial reading of Basel’s rich cultural landscape. Structured as a syllabary, it allows readers to explore twelve key institutions—museums, foundations, and cultural spaces—through the pairing of a word with a place, or a concept with an institution, revealing how art quietly yet insistently inhabits the city. Samuel Leuenberger, co-curator of the project with Mousse, carefully selected these twelve words to capture the essence and defining characteristics of each institution. Every space was invited to present itself through a variety of formats, allowing it to tell its story in its own voice. The publication features over 500 images and traces the histories of some of Basel’s most important cultural actors, told by the people who shape the institutions themselves or collaborate closely with them. The volume is further enriched by three in-depth conversations between Samuel Leuenberger and Sam Keller, Director of Fondation Beyeler; Roland Wetzel, Director of Museum Tinguely; and Raphael Suter, Director of Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger | KBH.G, as well as contributions from Elena Filipovic, Director of Kunstmuseum Basel, and Ines Goldbach, Director of Kunsthalle Basel, to name just a few. From historic foundations like the Kunstmuseum, born from Basel’s first public art collection in 1661, to contemporary experimental spaces such as HEK, the city’s cultural fabric flows across borders, blending civic responsibility, private support, and shared curiosity. Samuel Leuenberger’s editorial guidance is complemented by Matthieu Croizier’s photographic essay, capturing the city, its institutions, and the unique energy animating its art scene. This volume is an invitation to explore Basel’s living constellation of cultural spaces, to experience their interconnectedness, and to discover how art here continues to care for—and be cared for by—the city and its people.

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