(ALMOST) PRIVATE : Freiform Kollektiv

Where does the private end and the public begin? What do we share, and what do we hide?

From 19 to 21 November, the Freiformkollektiv transforms Artstübli – Kunst & Kultur into a living space, evoking familiar notions of intimacy and privacy. The large shop windows allow glimpses from outside into a staged privacy. The art space thus becomes a stage at the intersection of the private and the public, a place where the everyday and the staged, the personal and the shared, intertwine. The artistic contributions take up these tensions and ask what we share, what we hide, and where the boundaries of our private lives lie. Over three days, the interactive programme invites visitors to experience closeness and distance, visibility and retreat, inclusion and exclusion anew, and to connect with one another.

Our living room at Artstübli is open to everyone. You are warmly invited to linger, take part in the private space, exchange ideas or get creative. Board games and scrapbooking materials are ready for you, and in our swap dresser you can browse, swap and share clothes. At the end of the exhibition, we move out again. Any furniture or furnishings you like can be reserved until Saturday by email to frei.form25@gmail.com or via Instagram, and picked up on Sunday (CHF 10.– per piece + CHF 10.– deposit).

Freiformkollektiv is a young, interdisciplinary collective of students in Basel. On a voluntary basis, it organises cultural projects with the aim of making art accessible. (almost) private is realised by Chiara Genova, Tabea Page, Helena Graumann, Nathalie Brückner, Greta Schweizer and Carmen De Luca.

With (almost) private, Artstübli – Kunst & Kultur launches its first collaboration with students of the University of Basel.

PROGRAMME

Thursday, 19 November

6 pm Moving into Artstübli & Opening
The Freiformkollektiv moves into Artstübli for three days. To create a cosy home, visitors are invited to help unpack the boxes and furnish the space.

8 pm Performance & sound installation by Donia Jornod & Jeremy Ratib, Bite the Bullet (20 min)
Donia Jornod and Jeremy Ratib explore personal post-migrant memories, identity and cultural heritage. They ask what remains, changes or is lost when stories are passed on across generations, creating a vivid soundscape along the way.

Open end

Friday, 20 November

1 pm Doors open

6 pm Film screening: Alessia Belluscio, Boże Narodzenie (35 min)
The documentary sheds light on food, traditions, family and identity in an intercultural context. At its centre are two family kitchens and a dining room during the Christmas holidays. Through cooking and eating together, family structures, gender roles and language barriers become tangible.

7 pm (Un)observed: Talk with @chanandamalaika, @moonyversum and cultural anthropologist Konrad Kuhn (1 h)
Where does authenticity end and staging begin? Two influencers and a professor of cultural anthropology discuss privacy, publicness and self-presentation, focusing on how the gaze of an audience shapes what we show of ourselves and what we keep to ourselves.

8:30 pm Dinner performance by NEXUS Collective, The comfort of others
NEXUS Collective creates a shared menu from ingredients that mean comfort and home to the participants. The performance brings strangers together at one table for an evening, while others watch from outside.
Registration by 10.11. at nexus.collective@immerda.ch, including the ingredient your comfort dish cannot do without. Suggested price: CHF 20.– (limited places)

Saturday, 21 November

10:30 am Doors open

11 am Brunch
The Freiformkollektiv begins the last day of (almost) private with a shared brunch.
Registration by 10.11. at frei.form25@gmail.com, suggested price: CHF 5.–

1 pm Film screening: Alessia Belluscio, Boże Narodzenie (35 min)

2 pm Craft workshop with Nicole Börsch and Eli Yildiz (2 h)
How can a public exhibition space feel homely? Art education students Nicole and Eli invite you to decorate the space for the upcoming house party with handmade party decorations.

2 pm Mending workshop with Aline Gunti (2 h)
Learn different ways to mend holes, sew on buttons and embroider. Materials are provided, and you are welcome to bring your own clothes to mend.
Registration by 10.11. at frei.form25@gmail.com

5 pm Performance & sound installation by Donia Jornod & Jeremy Ratib, Bite the Bullet (20 min)

7:30 pm Closing event: Gioia Ceravolo, liminal listening, sound performance (15 min)
In her live sound performance, Gioia Ceravolo traces the path from nightlife through the walk home to arriving home, and the transitions between public music spaces and private living space. Even long after the music has stopped, the body still nods to the beat.

From 8 pm House party
8–10 pm Waxfreq*
10–10:30 pm UAUA
11:30 pm–12:30 am djoya

Open end

Curation: Freiform Kollektiv
Venue: Artstübli – Kunst & Kultur, Steinentorberg 28, 4051 Basel

Opening hours:
Thursday, 19 November: from 6 pm
Friday, 20 November: from 1 pm
Saturday, 21 November: from 10:30 am

Closing event: Saturday, 21 November, from 7:30 pm

With the support of Kanton Basel-Stadt Kultur and CMS (Christoph Merian Stiftung).