{"id":87611,"date":"2026-06-19T09:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/87611\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:18:15","slug":"at-art-basel-art-is-business-at-basel-social-club-its-a-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/87611\/","title":{"rendered":"At Art Basel, art is business \u2013 at Basel Social Club, it\u2019s a party"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club’s theme (and venue) in 2025 was “Bank”. In the picture, a room set up as a “Jeff Koons Special Sale” with an industrial production of inflatable dogs in the model of the American artist’s iconic ready-made. <\/p>\n

Keystone \/ Georgios Kefalas <\/p>\n

Since 2022, Basel Social Club has offered a free-spirited counterpoint to Art Basel. Rejecting exclusivity and privilege, this initiative by local art professionals reinvents itself every year, transforming unconventional spaces into anarchic open-doors environments where art and fun mingle freely.\n<\/p>\n

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Generated with artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n

This content was published on <\/p>\n

June 19, 2026 – 10:33\n<\/p>\n

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\n As an online editor at the Portuguese department who is in charge of SWI swissinfo.ch’s culture coverage, I work as reporter, editor, art & film critic, while also coordinating freelance collaborations.
\nBorn in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, I studied Film and Economics but made a career in journalism in several capacities (reporter, editor, international correspondent) before moving to documentary films, as developer and producer, and then to visual arts (in art publishing and as a curator). I joined SWI swissinfo.ch in 2017, where I could bring all this broad experience to the coordination of our cultural section. <\/p>\n


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\n Portuguese Department <\/a><\/p>\n

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\n I am a Visual Storytelling Producer specialising in long-form and serialised multimedia productions. I collaborate with journalists to improve tools and workflows across languages, ensure content style compliance, and lead the research and implementation of innovative visual techniques.
\nBorn in Italy and raised in Africa, I now call Switzerland home. I studied film directing at the Italian National Film School and worked as a documentary editor and director\/producer in Berlin and Vienna. I specialise in crafting multimedia into engaging narratives. <\/p>\n


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\n Multimedia <\/a><\/p>\n

Back in 2022, Art Basel was staging its first (almost) unimpeded post-pandemic edition, and people were still cautious about social interaction. Greeting kisses were still avoided, hand sanitiser was ubiquitous, yet a sense of regained freedom hung in the air.<\/p>\n

As the art world\u2019s movers and shakers descended on Basel, word began to spread about an open party in an affluent suburb on the outskirts of the city. At the entrance, guests hesitated \u2013 no one quite knew who the hosts were or what this open villa was all about. All the rooms were converted either into exhibition spaces, a cocktail bar or a lounge, sometimes all at once.<\/p>\n

The dance floor was set by the pool in the garden, but since we were in a wealthy residential area where noise is taboo, partygoers were given headphones. A wild party unfolded in near silence, the sound confined within each participant\u2019s senses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all very improvised,\u201d recalls Julia Cellarius, one of the organisers of Basel Social Club, speaking during a visit to the still-empty venue of the 2026 edition \u2013 a multi-story office building that once housed training facilities for UBS bank and the pharma giant Roche.<\/p>\n

Cellarius explains that this group of young local artists, art professionals and curators wanted to create their own space, mixing emerging art with a hedonistic spirit reminiscent of the mid-1990s, when another young group of gallerists and curators launched the LISTE art fair as a fresh counterpoint to Art Basel.<\/p>\n

At the time, Art Basel needed a while to recognise LISTE as a valuable complement. Basel Social Club, by contrast, was almost immediately welcomed into its ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club collective drew on their local network to organise things, calling friends, relatives, colleagues and acquaintances. The event took off immediately, quickly becoming the place to go during the scorching Art Basel summer week.<\/p>\n

Previous <\/p>\n

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club year 1, \u201cVilla\u201d (2022): the inaugural edition of Basel Social Club was staged in a 1930s villa where over 50 international artists were presented by 40 exhibitors throughout the interior, the garden, and poolside. <\/p>\n

Lukas Zitzer <\/p>\n

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club year 2 (2023), \u201cFactory\u201d: set in the former Thomy mayonnaise factory, this large-scale venue hosted nearly 1,000 artworks, and drew over 30,000 visitors during the week. <\/p>\n

Basel Social Club <\/p>\n

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club year 3, \u201cFarm\u201d (2024): an installation by American artist Julia Scher in the meadows. Scher works primarily with themes of surveillance. <\/p>\n

Gina Folly <\/p>\n

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club year 4, \u201cBank\u201d (2025): performance, directed by British artist Anthea Hamilton. <\/p>\n

Keystone \/ Georgios Kefalas <\/p>\n

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club year 4, \u201cBank\u201d (2025): Model walks performatively by the \u201cBank\u201d grounds wearing a suit designed in the same model as the sculptures in the back by Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata. <\/p>\n

Lara Esqueda <\/p>\n

Next <\/p>\n

Each year, a different rabbit hole<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, unconventional spaces became the Basel Social Club\u2019s trademark. In 2023, it took over a dilapidated factory. In 2024 it spread across the Predigerhof park on the city\u2019s edge under the title \u201cFarm\u201d. By its third iteration, the event had begun attracting established artists and galleries, who offered some of their works to be shown alongside emerging artists.<\/p>\n

Last year, the club occupied a former private bank in Basel\u2019s old town. The building\u2019s elegance and beauty were remarkable, but you could sense that the magic was getting out of control. Long queues formed outside, and overcrowding was unavoidable.<\/p>\n

\"Basel<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club, \u201cThe Office\u201d (2026): detail of the installation \u201cAmeratherm \u2013 Ultra Cooking Lab\u201d (2024) by Californian artist Julia Scher. <\/p>\n

Simon Vogel <\/p>\n

But the hedonism and tongue-in-cheek take on the high-flying art world was still very much alive. A good example was the \u201cJeff Koons Special Sale\u201d, where three workers dressed in outfits evoking an Asian sweatshop spent the day producing balloon dogs in the style of the American artist \u2013 in 2013 one of his dogs sold for $52 million.<\/p>\n

For the current edition, organisers addressed the overcrowding issue by securing a huge new venue: a complex where you can wander for hours, exploring room after room, corner after corner.<\/p>\n

Basel Social Club now hosts an independent art book fair alongside vernissages, performances, gala dinners and art prizes. Yet some attendees complained that it has become too big, and that mingling with strangers doesn\u2019t have the same openness as in early editions. Others, more critically, point to an amateurish approach regarding the selection of artworks, arguing that it is a mere backdrop for partying.<\/p>\n

Still, in the Art Basel universe, defined by \u201cexclusivity\u201d, \u201cprestige\u201d, and \u201cby invitation only\u201d, Basel Social Club remains a very democratic space. Entry is free, food and drinks are plentiful, and the partying and dancing go deep into the night \u2013 often until 3am. The organisers readily acknowledge that art and having fun is the club\u2019s raison d\u2019\u00eatre \u2013 and why not?<\/p>\n

\n More<\/p>\n

\"Installation\"<\/p>\n

More <\/p>\n

Culture\n <\/p>\n

Liste Art Fair: how Art Basel\u2019s \u2018younger sister\u2019 became a launchpad for the next generation <\/p>\n

\n

This content was published on <\/p>\n

Jun 15, 2026 <\/p>\n

Born as a fringe alternative, Liste has evolved into a support system for young galleries worldwide, proving that not every successful art fair has to play by the market\u2019s rules. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more: Liste Art Fair: how Art Basel\u2019s \u2018younger sister\u2019 became a launchpad for the next generation
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by Reto Gysi von Wartburg\/sb<\/p>\n

Articles in this story <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Basel Social Club’s theme (and venue) in 2025 was “Bank”. In the picture, a room set up as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8],"tags":[101,8679,77,98,5610,2668,2515,5089,460,461],"class_list":["post-87611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basel","tag-article","tag-arts-general","tag-basel","tag-beat-culture","tag-beat-swiss-fine-arts","tag-culture-general","tag-fashion","tag-festive-event-including-carnival","tag-multi","tag-production-type-original"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116776030139210589","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}