05.07.2024 19:00 bis 05.07.2024 22:00

Unofficial Hiking Society AG

Performance Art: Unofficial Kunstmuseum Basel

WALKSHOP "PROJECTING PERCEPTIONS - AN UNOFFICIAL INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE"
OR "ADVICE ON POWER, DATING AND DAN FLAVIN"
Beyond its acclaimed collection and exhibitions, the Kunstmuseum Basel thrives on the often unseen efforts and intricate workings that maintain its influence and legacy. In this walkshop, we want to question and uncover these vital yet hidden aspects of the museum’s operation. The Unofficial Hiking Society AG invites you to a night tour around the museum to shed light not only on the façade but also on unofficial narratives of the institution.​

THE UNOFFICIAL HIKING SOCIETY AKTIONSGESELLSCHAFT (AG)​
The Unofficial Hiking Society AG is a transdisciplinary collective based in Basel, Switzerland. Through physical and digital hikes on changing topics, the AG creates spaces for collective experiences and exchange of knowledge, directly in public space. The focus lies on “unofficial” counter-narratives to dominant narratives that corporations or public institutions tell about themselves. In this context, the “unofficial” stands for resistance to economic norms, conformity and bureaucracy, and counters these with the direct appropriation of the spaces around us, as the walks usually take place without advance notice and outside of institutions' radar.
Through the methodology of artistic research and collective hikes, the AG seeks to make visible and reflect on public space, its inherent exclusionary structures towards certain groups and communities as well as on methods of accessibility. This politicization of the public sphere is closely linked to a critique of capitalism and neoliberalism as well as to a reflection on what is considered “public” or “private” realm.