The 2022 edition of Art Basel at Messe Basel from June 16 to 19, 2022 will feature 289 leading galleries from across the globe presenting the highest quality of works across all media, from rare and historical masterpieces to new works by today’s emerging artistic voices. In addition to showcasing exceptional art within its Galleries, Feature, Statements, and Edition sectors, the fair will present 70 large-scale artworks in Unlimited; 20 site-specific projects in Parcours; a large- scale floor installation titled ‘Out of Sight’ in homage to American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner; an ambitious Film program; as well as Conversations, the fair’s renowned talks series.

Here are the show highlights for the 2022 edition:

• Art Basel’s Unlimited – curated by Giovanni Carmine, Director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen – will feature 70 large-scale projects by renowned and emerging artists.
• Art Basel’s public sector Parcours – curated by Samuel Leuenberger, founder of the Swiss non-profit exhibition spaces SALTS in Birsfelden and Country SALTS in Bennwil – will showcase 21 site-specific artworks across Basel’s city centre.
• Basel’s Messeplatz will feature a participatory floor installation titled ‘Out of Sight’ in homage to American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, creating a space for public gathering and reflection.
• Free to the public, Art Basel’s Conversations series will bring together 46 leading international speakers across 12 panels to discuss essential topics in the contemporary art scene.
• Art Basel’s renowned Film program will be screened at the Stadtkino Basel from Monday, June 13 to Saturday, June 18, 2022

Unlimited, Art Basel’s unique platform for large-scale projects, provides galleries the opportunity to showcase expansive installations, monumental sculptures, vast wall paintings, extensive photographic series, and video projections that transcend the traditional art fair stand. Taking place in Hall 1, Unlimited will again be curated by Giovanni Carmine, Director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen. On Thursday, June 16, Art Basel will for the first time host Unlimited Night, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the sector with a program of special performances by Ari Benjamin Meyers and Nora Turato during extended opening hours.

Under the theme ‘How to Grow in Times of Change,’ Art Basel’s public sector Parcours will return to Basel’s city centre with 21 site-specific installations and performances. Curated by Samuel Leuenberger, founder of the non-profit exhibition space SALTS in Birsfelden and Country SALTS in Bennwil, this year’s Parcours will take place across civic and private spaces, as well as new venues in the city centre. Access to all Parcours sites is free to the public.

Basel’s Messeplatz will feature a participatory floor installation titled ‘Out of Sight’ by Lawrence Weiner, in homage to the artist who passed away in December 2021. Modeled on a hopscotch grid, the work aims to inspire and engage visitors through visualization, physicalizing positive thinking through the use of Weiner’s signature typographic texts.

Screened at Stadtkino Basel from Monday, June 13 to Saturday, June 18, the Film program will again be curated by Filipa Ramos, Founding Curator of the online video platform Vdrome, Lecturer at the Arts Institute of the FHNW in Basel, and Director of the Contemporary Art Department of the City of Porto. The program showcases a selection of the most important artists worldwide working with moving images through dedicated surveys and short film evenings. This year’s highlights include surveys by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Sky Hopinka, and Tala Madani. In addition, Film curator Marian Masone has selected an outstanding feature-length documentary film on African- American art history – ‘Black Art: In the Absence of Light,’ directed by Sam Pollard – to be screened on Saturday, June 18. This will mark the Swiss cinematic premiere of the HBO documentary.

Art Basel’s renowned Conversations series offers a platform for the exchange of ideas on topics concerning the global contemporary art scene. This year’s program features 46 speakers across 12 panels, bringing together leading artists, gallerists, collectors, curators, museum directors, and critics. They will discuss diverse issues from the changing roles and responsibilities of collectors in the NFT art market to the challenges facing museums when addressing climate change, as well as offer a perspective on decolonial and ecological life in collaboration with the 12th Berlin Biennale. Conversations is curated by Emily Butler, Conversations Curator, Art Basel and guest curator at Whitechapel Gallery. The Conversations program will run from Wednesday, June 15 to Saturday, June 18 in the Auditorium in Hall 1. All events are free to the public and will be streamed on Art Basel’s Facebook channel.

Important Dates:

Preview (by invitation only)
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 – Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Public opening dates and hours
Thursday, June 16, 2022 – Sunday, June 19, 2022, 11am – 7pm

Unlimited Night
Thursday, June 16, 7pm – 10pm

Parcours Opening Hours
Monday, June 13, 1pm – 8pm
Tuesday, June 14 – Friday, June 17, 10am – 8pm Saturday, June 18, 10am – 11pm
Sunday, June 19, 10am – 7pm

Parcours Night
Saturday, June 18, 6pm – 11pm

Parcours is free and open to the public.