The young woman kneeled beside a low platform scattered with smashed electric guitars and plucked one of the strings, producing a discordant sound. Soon, we had all joined in, “playing” an instrument in the interactive installation by Israel- and New York-based artist Naama Tsabar. Together, we produced almost-music, a sort of beauty emerging from the fragments of violence. Provocative works such as this filled the inaugural exhibition of Kunsthaus Baselland in its new home.
The Dreispitz district is a former industrial area turned creative hub. The museum, recently relocated from nearby Muttenz, adds luster to the Dreispitz urban development project. The initiative is shared between Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, the two Basel cantons, or states.
My husband and I visited the Kunsthaus shortly after it opened in April 2024. We explored the opening exhibition, “Re-Wilding” after taking a guided architectural walk through Dreispitz. While in the neighborhood, we also popped into the House for Electronic Arts (HEK). What we found there impressed us.
“Re-Wilding” at Kunsthaus Baselland
The exhibition’s first room featured Altar for the Precarious, an installation by Swiss artists Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger. This piece, almost floating in a shaft of light, played beautifully with the building’s architecture. It set the tone for our visit to the new museum.
Depth, often delivered lightly and playfully, marked the exhibition. For example, the arrangement of Alexandra Navratil’s photo tapestries and the suspended kites of Joan Jonas invited visitors to walk through them, creating immersive experiences. Andrea Bower’s brightly colored ribbons and fans with their catchy feminist slogans covered two walls of an upper gallery.
The work’s placement drew us into a space overlooking the gallery with destroyed guitars, a space we had visited earlier. From the mezzanine, we became voyeurs and observed other visitors. They were interacting with Naama Tsabar’s installation, as we had done just moments before.
Some galleries in the exhibition were devoted to a single artist, while in others, the intention was for the artists and their installations to work in concert. This shifting perspective continued throughout the exhibition, with the museum’s architecture and the artists’ works guiding our journey.
A New Cultural Landmark
Ines Goldbach, the museum’s director and curator of “Re-Wilding,” envisioned the exhibition as a reflection of Kunsthaus Baselland’s essence. She sought to transform a once-static storage building into something vibrant and dynamic. The museum’s designer, Buchner Bründler Architekten, succeeded in this mission. The architects created a simple and unobstructed art space while paying homage to the building’s original structure.
They retained the concrete floor, with blackened streaks from its days as a warehouse still evident. They also kept the massive wooden beams from the old structure and used them to build a small but prominent art library. The steel framework from the former warehouse now supports the foyer’s soaring roof, adding to the museum’s industrial charm.
A single significant architectural feature ensured the transformation of the low-slung former warehouse into an airy, light-filled venue for art. Three concrete towers, open to the sky from different angles, channel natural light into the museum throughout the day. This, combined with natural ventilation, makes the building sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Kunsthaus Baselland is one of the leading exhibition venues for contemporary art in the Basel region. It offers a platform for regional and international artists, many of whom are exhibiting in Europe for the first time. The museum’s striking new location adds a fresh sparkle to its urban surroundings and offers exciting prospects for both artists and visitors.
Digital Art Innovation at HEK
The House for Electronic Arts (HEK), founded in 2010, was created through a merger with the Shift Festival for Electronic Arts, a popular forum for new media art. It initially struggled to attract visitors to what felt like a remote location, but now flourishes as part of the evolving Dreispitz project. Today, a well-marked route and on-site café make HEK an accessible and appealing destination for art lovers.
HEK’s programming includes exhibitions, intimate festivals, performances, and concerts that appeal to young people. As a national competence center for art forms that engage with new media, HEK explores contemporary social issues and the evolving aesthetics of technology.
During our visit, the “Virtual Beauty” exhibition provided an edgy complement to Kunsthaus Baselland’s “Re-Wilding.” “Virtual Beauty” explored how new technologies and our increasingly digital lives challenge traditional ideas of identity and people’s concept of beauty.
HEK’s current exhibition, “Tools for Change,” opened in parallel with the most recent exhibition at Kunsthaus, making visiting both museums worthwhile.
From Farmland to Architectural Showcase
Dreispitz, meaning “tri-corner” in German, describes a plot of 19th-century farmland spanning two communities and Swiss cantons: the city of Basel in Canton Basel-Stadt and the community of Münchenstein in Basel-Landschaft.
The new Dreispitz has been in the works for decades under the stewardship of the Christoph Merian Foundation, which manages the estate and legacy of 19th-century landowner and philanthropist Christoph Merian. Every building in Dreispitz has a history tied to Basel’s commercial past, and the arrival of Kunsthaus Baselland marks a significant development in this urban renewal story.
The Kunsthaus Baselland occupies a former champagne warehouse, while HEK is housed in the old customs office. The Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW, with about a thousand students, teachers, and staff, has studios in a former bonded warehouse nearby. A new high-rise on Freilager Platz now accommodates various institutes of the Academy.
Dreispitz, a Canvas for Innovation
Once dominated by the railway tracks and truck-loading docks of the 20th century, the area retains a raw atmosphere from its past as a transport hub and duty-free zone. Innovative architecture is transforming these old warehouses and the customs depot into a new urban sector that blends trade, service, retail, culture, leisure, and housing. The street grid, railway tracks, and re-imagined buildings give Dreispitz its unique identity.
A stroll through Dreispitz becomes a journey of discovery, with works by students from the Academy of Art and Design found all around Freilager Platz and the art museums. A giant teeter-totter and other outsized playground elements dot the expanse between the art college and the two museums.
A quirky mini-golf course has been installed atop the railway tracks that separate the two cantons, and street art and potted plants adorn building facades alongside the tracks. These and other works by student artists and designers animate and add a whimsical touch to the landscape.
Where to Eat in Dreispitz
Dining options in Dreispitz are limited but delicious.
- For breaks before or after a visit to the Kunsthaus Baselland, an in-house coffee bar serves fresh-brewed espresso, other beverages, and an assortment of pastries.
- The House for Electronic Arts cafe offers more substantial fare. The elaeatery serves delicious pastries, including savory options, and vegetarian and vegan dishes for lunch. On weekends, pancakes are added to the menu. Drinks on offer include coffee, tea, beer, and natural wine.
- Schmatz, a long-time hangout for industrial workers, now attracts area office and museum staff, students, and visitors to Dreispitz for lunch. Its vine-draped deck is a popular spot in warm weather. Inside, there is plenty of dining space when it’s cold out. The seasonal menu offers various healthy, tasty options, including pasta and salads.
- Birtel Biermanufaktur is a craft brewery that occupies a former loading dock. The brewery’s Fahrbahr serves pizza and craft beer on a former train loading platform and in a repurposed train car. It’s a friendly, youthful place to gather after work and on Saturday evenings. The drinks menu includes a range of beers, wine, long drinks, and non-alcoholic beverages.
Basel is a world-renowned art destination on the Rhine River at the crossroads of Switzerland, France, and Germany. With the addition of Kunsthaus Baselland and the thriving Dreispitz art campus, the city’s vibrant art scene is more exciting than ever. Dreispitz, with its museums and hive of art education, is well worth a stop on any contemporary art lover’s travel itinerary.
If You Go
Visit the websites of Kunsthaus Baselland and the House for Electronic Arts to discover what’s on when you expect to be in town.
Basel is a compact city with excellent public transportation. The Basel Tourism website has many accommodation offerings. One of them, the highly rated Novotel Basel City, is just four tram stops from Dreispitz, yet convenient to other Basel area attractions.
You might enjoy one of the many tours offered by Basel Tourism. We first visited the Dreispitz art museums as part of a guided architecture tour of Dreispitz.
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