Monthly Archives: May 2014
The Basel Journal on the air
The Basel Journal was invited to The English Show of Radio X last Tuesday. Listen to us here. The interview starts at 19 minutes. Have fun. Anna Wirz from Radio X: “This week, Stéphanie Erni and Martin Puetter of The Basel Journal came into the studio to tell us about this bilingual magazine. It contains many an interesting in-depth story in both German and English and is made for both expats and Swiss locals. The Basel Journal is published four times a year and you can either subscribe to the magazine or buy it at Bider & Tanner or at
Fondation Beyeler – roots and metamorphosis
Moving forward while holding on to the past – that is the philosophy of the Fondation Beyeler under the leadership of Sam Keller. By Shirley L. Kearney, Picture shows Ernst Beyeler and Sam Keller (l.) The city of Basel and its arts scene in particular owe a lot to Ernst Beyeler. Many regard him as the greatest art-dealer of the post-second world war era. He befriended artists such as Picasso, Cezanne, Monet, Giacometti, Bacon and Lichtenstein; and he had celebrated Italian architect Renzo Piano design a home for his famous collection of modern art in Riehen, just outside Basel. Roots
The little differences: 4. Two years of queuing
It is part of every Brit’s DNA. It is “Britain’s contribution to civilisation”. And it is an art that locals in Basel do not seem to have mastered: queuing. By Martin Pütter Yes, I purposely described queuing as an art, and I am sure many British-born expats (as well as others as anglophile as I am) will agree with me. It is one of the things I have missed since returning to Basel a few years ago. As Jochen Wittmann, a London-based colleague of mine, once wrote: “It is Britain’s contribution to civilisation.” Well, if you look at how the
Dancing along to the music
The Volkshaus Basel sees the resurrection of a form of musical entertainment from the 1920s: in True Love, an eve-of-the-wedding participatory dance and musical comedy, the audience is encouraged to dance along to the music. By Shirley L. Kearney, German by Martin Pütter Be passively entertained or be actively part of the entertainment: True Love is Basel’s first ‘dance together’ musical comedy. This show takes the audience back to a form of musical theatre entertainment from the 1920s, paying homage to the Big Bands of that era – in other words, to the Great American Songbook. The comedy opens in
United Enemies at the Town Hall
By Stéphanie Erni, English by Martin Pütter Photo Homepage: Juri Weiss “United Enemies” is the name of two sculptures by German artist Thomas Schütte, each weighing at least two tonnes and both four metres high. They will grace the courtyard of Basel’s Town Hall until August, 5 and are thus publicly accessible, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Town Hall. Previously the sinister sculptures had been standing at the Fondation Beyeler (The Basel Journal reported about the exhibition). A special crane, facing the Town Hall’s front entrance at Marktplatz, had to lift them into the courtyard.