HOTAVANTGARDEHOTHOT! 2011-2013

Simone Neuenschwander and Christiane Rekade nominated as first curatorial team

Beginning in May 2011, OSLO10, an independent exhibition space, launched in the Kunstfreilager complex in Basel/Münchenstein. Other new art and culture venues have settled in the immediate vicinity. The House of Electronic Arts (plug.in and Shift Festival), the alternative Radio X, galleries, and numerous studios have been operating in the Dreispitzareal district since January 2011. In the near future the Academy of Art and Design Basel (HGK) will also take up its new residence in the Kunstfreilager.

The new exhibition space OSLO10 opened at this site that is currently undergoing much transition. OSLO10 will be headed by a different curatorial team every two years; it is maintained by a non profit association and the basic funding comes from the Christoph Merian Foundation. In February 2011 the jury—consisting of Daniel Baumann (Freelance Curator, Basel and President of OSLO10), Nikola Dietrich (Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Basel), Kaspar Müller (Artist, Basel/Zurich), Edit Oderbolz (Artist, Basel), Nadia Schneider Willen (Freelance Curator, Zurich), and Anna Bonacci (Project Director for Culture, Christoph Merian Foundation)—selected the first curatorial team.

Simone Neuenschwander and Christiane Rekade have been named the first curators of OSLO10 for the period from April 1, 2011 to March 30, 2013. With this team, two curators have been chosen who are not only familiar with the Swiss art scene but who also have an excellent international network.

For OSLO10, Simone Neuenschwander and Christiane Rekade will cultivate an innovative, independent space for Swiss and international artists and thus another important gathering point in Basel’s currently extremely lively cultural scene. As part of their concept, the curators will directly respond to the context of the exhibition space as part of the Kunstfreilager within the Dreispitzareal district. Through the title HOTAVANTGARDEHOTHOT they draw on the movement and aims of the avant-garde — both in an art historical sense, in terms of addressing significance of the avant-garde within contemporary artistic production, and also in a literal sense as a vanguard, i.e. the segment of the troops that makes the first forays into new territory. However, the curators will not be taking the Kunstfreilager by force but will use charm, creativity, and humor to advance a range of artistic projects.

The two-year program for OSLO10 will take place in three phases, which will incorporate and link different curatorial approaches:
In the initial phase of exploration (Pioneers to the Falls) both the exhibition space and the surrounding complex will set the stage for one-time, brief events such as performances, screenings, and temporary installations. Beginning in November 2011, the second phase of occupation (Wild Signs) will feature a series of solo and group exhibitions. In the third phase dedicated to maintaining and documenting the work of OSLO 10 (Keep the Ball in the Air and the Game alive), the exhibition space will be transformed into an open editorial office in the fall of 2012 to produce an extensive publication, a process accompanied by artist presentations, readings, and discussions.