Art Basel 2020 not taking place
One of the worlds biggest contemporary art fairs - the Art Basel - unfortunately is
not taking place this year in my hometown of Basel.
Bacause of the coronavirus and the still lasting uncertainty regarding authorities
regulations in Switzerland and around the world. It would have taken place in
September in hopes the situation regarding the virus would be clearer at this point
in time.
The Basel fair each year is featuring around 250 leading galleries from around the
world with more than 4000 artists.
It is huge and I personally try to attend it every year. I like the high amount of
contemporary art and its “Art Unlimited”. Which is a hall full of all sorts of
installations. The Art Basel also regularly attracts celebrities from around the
world, bringing a touch of Hollywood to Switzerland. The real stars of the fair are
the artworks and its creators though.
Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Leonardo Di
Caprio, Brad Pitt and many others have already
been spottet in the past. Probably enjoying not
constantly being chased by photographers as the
“paparazzi business” - compared to other places -
is not very “developped” in Switzerland. I
remember reading about Owen Wilson making a
little bicycle tour across the city before finally
being recognized by some kids at a public
swimming pool. Or Kanye West who was randomly
eating lunch in a dining room in Basel on an other
occasion. Beside one or two smartphone photos
from a fan totally left alone.
But why? Hard to say. Maybe because there are so many rich people in Switzerland
so that a hollywood star is “just another millionaire”. So who cares? Also, it may
have something to do with Swiss culture in general, whose motto is “one for all, all
for one”. It is written in latin on the ceiling of the Federal Palace (government). It is
the same motto as in the novel “The Three Musketeers”. Kind of making each
Swiss a member of the Three Musketeers.
This kind of mindset makes it hard for anyone to be considered more special than
others. In fact, we don´t even have a president. We have 7 ministers instead. To
make sure no one will ever feel too important.
By the way: The “Art Basel” in Miami Beach is still scheduled for this year in
Dezember 2020, while the next Art Basel in Hong Kong will take place in March
2021. For further information check out
Art is the future
Today we start to realize that our material resources are limited. That to obtain
our goods (clothes, furniture, cars, computers, all sorts of technical gadgets etc.)
the price we pay is not just our work performance but also the damage of nature
and the ecosystem.
We start to realize that for every material product a certain amount of CO2 has
been emitted. Probably a certain amount of drinking water has been used, or
contaminated. A little bit of toxic gas went out of a chimney somewhere, polluting
the air. Other goods that are just as important or even more important to us (clean
air, drinking water, a clean see,..) are put at risk or destroyed.
We will always be needing material goods. But the past decades the level of
consumption got out of control. Instead of going to a shop because we need
something, we tend to go shopping just as a hobby. We buy stuff and throw it
away shortly after. Just to buy new stuff again because it’s not the products itselfs
that make us happy anymore. Most of us (in highly developped countries) have
enough goods already anyway. It’s the act of buying something that is fun. And we
got addicted to it. To an extend that it’s not healthy anymore. Not for us and
especially not for the world.
It’s like food. Eating is fun and has an important function at the same time. It
keeps us alive. And it keeps us healthy and makes us happy.
But if we exaggerate it, it becomes an addiction. And at a certain point instead of
keeping us alive, it starts to kill us.
That’s what happened with our consumption of material goods. It became an
unreasonable big part of our culture.
And while there are ways to maintain our consumption at a certain level AND
protect the environment by shifting to a much greener economy (for instance buy
an electric car instead of a fueled one, build solar farms instead of atomic power
plants,..) I do believe that we have to and can reduce consumption of material
goods by replacing shopping as a hobby with cultural things..like art. Drawing and
painting can be very fulfilling and fun. Not just for kids. Unfortunately many
people stop with it when they reach a certain age. Even if many of them are
talented.
I hope with this site I can encourage those people to restart painting again and
help them understand that their artworks can be very interesting and valuable to
others even if they are not a trained or famous artist (yet).
Personally, I love to stroll through fleamarkets and discover artworks from
unknown artists. I really would like to bring that kind of experience online.
Lawrence from ArtGallery4all
