For all our globe-trotting art adventures (we are ArtNomads, after all), and specifically all the times we’ve been to Miami for Art Basel, it seems crazy that prior to June 2024, we’d only attended the Miami edition of Art Basel a few times, and the main fair in Basel, Switzerland exactly (drumroll please) -0- times.
BUT – now we have and we’re happy to share OUR experience, to help you makes yours that much smoother and more enjoyable. Read on!
What is Art Basel
Launched by a couple art dealers in the 1970’s, Art Basel has grown into one of the largest and most prestigious art fairs on the planet. (Well, it’s actually an organization which mounts several such fairs around the globe, but this article is specific to the mothership, Art Basel – Basel Switzerland).
Like the Venice Biennale (which we also only attended for the first time in 2024), Art Basel showcases the best in contemporary and modern art from artists and galleries worldwide, to a global critical, institutional, and collecting audience.
If you’ve never been, hopefully you’ll find the following both helpful and inspirational.
Note: As journalists, our entry to the fair was complimentary. Impressions and images are our own.
Also: some of the links in this article may be affiliate links; if you purchase using one, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
First, the Practical Stuff:
Where is Art Basel?
Art Basel takes its name from and is located in the town of Basel, Switzerland. The fair spans multiple floors in the Messeplatz, which is the convention center in the center of town. Use the Messeplatz as your map pin to determine how far your potential lodging might be from the fair. Book far in advance and as close to the fair as budget allows.
When is Art Basel?
Art Basel produces multiple fairs around the world (Miami, Hong Kong, Paris and the recently-announced Qatar) throughout the year; the namesake fair in Switzerland is typically the 2nd week of June.
June is a lovely time to be in Switzerland, and even the non-art-loving crowd agrees with you. If you’re thinking of going, make your reservations at least 6 months in advance.
How to Travel to / in Basel
Getting to the fair
Basel, Switzerland is served by an international airport, as well as fast & efficient trains from all over Europe. Zurich Art Weekend is the week prior … take the train up like we did.
Getting around Basel
The city itself has a good network of buses and trams. Use them to save your feet. In fact, for our 2024 visit, we picked up a free Basel Card transit pass from the tourist welcome center, but your hotel or AirBnB should provide it directly. (Ours did not, so we had to show our paperwork/reservation)
As for how to actually DO the fair, we’d suggest allotting at least 3 days, plus more for the satellite fairs like Design Basel, Volta, PhotoBasel, Liste, Basel Social Club and more. There are also great museums like Fondation Beyeler (which mounted one of the best shows we saw all year!), Kunstmuseum Basel, Tinguely, etc.
You may want to reserve time to walk the riverfront, even take a swim. And France is … just over there a few km. (the Basel Card does NOT cover trips to France).
We say this to help prevent burnout. Heh.
Art Basel Survival Guide
Arriving at the fair, there is a mandatory, complimentary bag check (across the street) for anything over a certain (relatively random) size, so be prepared. Ladies’ purses seem to be mostly exempt, but if it’ll hold a beachball, you’ll have to check it.
You’ll also need to have installed the fair’s mobile app (Android/ IOS) which will have your tickets, fair schedule, map and most everything else you’ll need.
Wear comfy shoes. You’ll walk several kilometers over several hours – for multiple days.
Sustenance & Comfort
If you’re not one of the well-heeled folks enjoying one of several VIP and private lounges, there is a central courtyard cafe featuring only-slightly-overpriced food and drink (in a town where everything is already overpriced); we noticed many folks enjoying a sack lunch outside the entrance, under shade. We joined them.
Thankfully, there are a few water stations scattered through the fair. Bring a refillable bottle. Gotta keep those joints lubricated.
Accessibility
The fair itself is accessible to the mobility-challenged. A limited number of wheelchairs are available and other special arrangements can be made by contacting the fair.
The city of Basel also has a special initiative called Barrier-free Basel – check it out.
What to Expect at Art Basel
For our visit, Art Basel featured nearly 250 gallery presentations in three main sections, some of which are further divided as we list below.
The fair’s Unlimited section is on the ground floor to the left of the fair’s main entrance (more on this below)
Galleries Sector
This is the main section of Art Basel. You can expect to see a smattering of blue-chip names of Modern Masters, such as Dali, Nevelson, Warhol, Kelly, Rauschenberg, etc., alongside 21st-Century stalwarts such as Condo, Cave, Kentridge, Oehlen, Wei Wei, Eliasson, Rondinone, and a surprising number of names you might NOT know, but who produce excellent work.
You’ll spend most of your time here, and we do strongly suggest breaking it into 2 partial days; maybe one for each floor.
Pro Tip: get there early, and head directly and quickly to a far back corner of the fair and work your way back to the entrance. You’ll have a crowd-free experience (at least to start), and you’ll be at the entrance/exit when you’re done, rather than having to backtrack.
Features Sector
This part of the fair is for more historical work; you may find artists’ estates, or private collection & secondary-market works.
Editions Section
As the name implies, in this area, you’ll find prints and multiples. We literally have no photos of this area, so it’s likely we missed it!? Did we mention Basel is a BIG fair?
If you’re actually shopping, but on a limited budget, perhaps starting with this section might be a good way to go.
New Art/ists
Overall, not too much that’s really “emerging”, in the sense of truly undiscovered. But there’s always a surprise debut or three; if you’re looking for the young, up-n-coming artists, you’ll want to pay special attention to the following sections:
Statements Sector
Solo projects by emerging artists. Usually a separate space from the presenting gallery’s main booth.
Kabinett Sector
Here again you may find some emerging artists, often in special, thematically-curated areas of a gallery’s main booth or a small standalone space for that purpose.
Premiere Sector
This is another sector that if it existed during our visit, we have no specific record of. Art Basel’s website says it ”focuses on recent production and shows precisely curated projects, such as the presentation of a single artist and exhibitions presenting up to three artists within a curatorial project”. Not sure how this differs from Kabinett… but we’re sure you’ll enjoy, regardless.
Overall / What you’ll see
As mentioned above Art Basel (in whichever location) is a broad-spectrum, high-quality modern and contemporary art fair.
In terms of materiality, we expected more digital than we saw presented; the 2024 fair was soundly anchored in painting and sculpture.
The latter, however, incorporates more interesting and adventurous material(s) than we expected; several booths featured well-crafted works in latex, foam, concrete / gypsum, wax, glass (there’s always a bit of glass to be expected, but 2024 had really great breadth) and of course clay.
Clay is really having a moment.
Subject matter also runs the gamut: figurative, abstract, geometric, color field, surrealism (not SO much).
Art Basel is a pretty serious fair: you won’t find much fluff; the glitz & gloss of Art Miami is notably absent. That said, scrolling through our camera roll, we don’t find much ‘challenging’ content. That is, not much that’s overly-specifically political, ecological, or cartoon-y.
The works featured at Art Basel are intended to be investment-grade, thus the messaging and content has to stand the test of time.
Unlimited
The Unlimited section, on the ground floor to the left of the main entrance was probably our favorite bit. It’s a big mostly open-plan space dedicated to/for REALLY big sculpture and installations.
Art Basel has presented the Unlimited section since at least 2020 and it’s something we wish more fairs would offer. It allows artists to create freely, beyond the confines of a 20x20x5m booth, presenting purely experimental works or those most suited to museums, sculpture parks and foundations. The only other fair we can recall attempting this was SOFA-Chicago, when we exhibited there in the early 2000s.
At any rate, we did a walk-through video. As you can tell by watching, we (I) thought it was really cool.
Part of what made Unlimited cool was its extended hours; the video above was recorded around 7 or 8pm on the Thursday night, after we’d left the main fair, and had a chance to refresh with a bite, a cocktail and to sort of digest what we’d already seen that day. It also give a a sort of Deuxieme (2nd)-Vernissage feeling, which is nice for those of us who missed the VIP opening.
Parcours
This sector is actually sort of off-campus, with site-specific work along the Clarastrasse, one of the main streets leading to the fair. You don’t really need to set side time for this; you’ll likely pass much of it on your way to-from the fair each day. Check for specific times for performances, though.
TLDR; Art Basel as a whole
Art Basel is a touchstone of what’s important in contemporary art; you’ll find artists featured whose work will later be included in, or the main focus of, numerous museum exhibitions for the following year.
Not just “who’s hot now”, but who’s been sneaky-hot for the last year, and will be red-hot going forward.
Cases in point: Travares Strachan & Yinka Shonibare; who’d been warm to sneaky-hot for a year or more prior to exploding at the Venice Biennale.
If you’re really into art, and you love to travel, your #arttravel plans simply *must* include a visit to Art Basel (and Switzerland in general) in June.
While Art Basel itself is technically do-able in 2 or 3 days, you’ll need a week to fully take in all that Basel Art Week has to offer. Plus there are the parties, the artist talks, the swimming… maybe even hunt for Invader’s street art?
In fact, we suggest you reserve at least 2 weeks if you can, to hit Zurich Art Weekend (here’s what to expect there) as well. It’s just the week prior, and you can spend a few days in the mountains in between and after Basel.
We plan to attend Art Basel Switzerland again in 2027, and we’ll be at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025. If you see us – say Hi!
One thought on “Art Basel – Switzerland: What and How to maximize your art experience”