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Guided Tours

  • Schools & universities
  • Schaulager Tour
  • Dieter Roth Room

Look!
Art education for schools and universities at Schaulager

Schaulager’s innovative concept gives researchers, university groups and school classes of all ages the opportunity to study original artworks first-hand.

Guided tour of the storage rooms with works by Paul Chan, Jeff Wall, Katharina Fritsch, Schaulager® Münchenstein/Basel, Collection of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to Kunstmuseum Basel, © Paul Chan, © Jeff Wall, © Katharina Fritsch, 2024, ProLitteris, Zurich.

Tours at Schaulager are sensuous, critical and contemplative, accompanied by spontaneous, animated and diversified dialogues as well as various activities. We also look into how contemporary art is preserved at Schaulager and give an insight into the meticulous care required to store works of art. On our tours, we give free rein to the imagination and take inspiration from the immediacy of the originals in the spirit of our motto: “Learning from the artists.”

The Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation’s collection offers a rich body of artistic works from Classic Modernism to the present day.

All modules are suggestions or starting points, which can also include other work as desired. The modules can also be easily combined.

Workshops for schools & universities

Workshop of everyday things
Between reality and illusion

Duration: 90 minutes (or by agreement)

Further information

All tours and modules are also suitable for younger primary school students.

Our current offers:

1. Guided tour

Schaulager – a place where contemporary art is preserved, studied and shared

Duration: 90 minutes (or by agreement)

This tour explains the Schaulager concept and provides insight into the unique conditions that are a distinguishing feature of the storage of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation’s works. It primarily focuses on the activities relating to the professional care, storage and study of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation’s collection, including the method of handling, conservation and restoration.

Our tour “Schaulager – a place to store, study and learn about contemporary art” is also suitable for primary school children.

In the focus “Art Handling”, we follow the trail of our Art Handling Team and learn what happens to a work of art at Schaulager, from the moment it arrives in a crate and is carefully unpacked with gloved hands to the precise recording of its condition and final hanging or installation in a storage space.

The Art Handling-Team installing the work Volumes (detail), 2012 by Paul Chan in a storage room. Photo: Ursula Sprecher

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The focus “Conservation and Restoration” introduces visitors to the work of restoring. How does one attempt to avoid potential damage through preventative conservation and, on the other hand, how does one deal with damaged works of art?

A condition report is prepared. Photo: Ursula Sprecher

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“Making Books” focuses on a medium that is far from outmoded or standardized in the context of art. Whether exhibition catalogues, monographs, collection catalogues, books of photography or artists’ books – they are all distinctive and transcend the conventions of format. They do so figuratively as well because the unique nature of an artistic “position” inhabits each publication and cannot be confined to the norms of a series.

The process of making books – from the conceptual planning to the precise choice of suitable paper to the printing process – is a fascinating specialty with a vocabulary of its own. Paper samples, colour charts, dummies, galleys, blueprints – on our tour we can hold and handle the things to which these words refer.

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2. Discover Art

One on one – looking and comparing

Duration: 60 minutes (or by agreement)

Two works, similar in their choice of theme, material, medium, artistic form or method, are presented in parallel. Together with the students, we take a closer look at this pair of works and, by comparing them, uncover what they have in common and where they differ. This, in turn, enables us to reconstruct the artist’s underlying ideas, strategies and concepts.

The modules are all proposals that may include other works as well depending on the needs. In addition, the modules can be easily combined

In Module 1, we observe how artists create something new with found objects - be it kitchen utensils, chairs, benches, floors, roofing material, canisters, old photographs, newsprint, but also myths or paintings. The focus is on the wooden sculpture ‘Schtetl’ created by Alexej Koschkarow from his studio floor, Dieter Roth's immense waste installation ‘Ringgebilde’ or the animal sculptures by Gina Fischli, made from used clothing remnants. We also follow such moments of recycling in works by Klara Lidén, Dayanita Singh, Thomas Ruff, Matthew Barney and others - in keeping with the motto: all beginnings are new beginnings.


Alexej Koschkarow, Schtetl, 2012
Wood and metal, 113.5 × 121 × 123 cm, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, photo: Bisig & Bayer, Basel

Klara Lidén, Untitled (Astoria 12), 2024
Bitumen sheeting (roofing material), aluminum asphalt paint and plywood, 211 × 383.5 cm, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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In Module 2, we explore the affinity between the medium of photography and the strategy of staging. Exciting new realities can be created, but how? To pursue this question we look closely at the photographs of Cindy Sherman, as well as Jeff Wall’s large-format transparencies mounted in lightboxes. How do these artists engineer their works and how do they handle their models? In what way do their works address us as viewers standing in front of them?


Jeff Wall, After ”Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue, 1999-2000, printed in 2001
Transparency in lightbox, 174 × 250.5 cm, Ed. ½ + AP, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Jeff Wall

Cindy Sherman, Untitled # 225, 1990
Chromogenic colour print, 121.9 × 83.8 cm, Ed. 6/6, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York

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In Module 3, we explore how artists, starting from either reality or other models, arrive at new images or objects through a process of imitation. The focus here will be on Tisch (1992–1993) by Fischli/Weiss and the photograph Clearing (2003) by Thomas Demand. In what way do these artists engage with the things that make up our world? What kind of objects and images are we actually looking at?


Thomas Demand, Clearing, 2003
C-Print, Diasec, 192 × 495 cm, Ed. 2/6, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © 2022 ProLitteris, Zurich, Thomas Demand

Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Tisch (detail), 1992–1993
Table and objects, polyurethane, carved and painted, table: 60 × 80 × 324 cm, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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In Module 4, we let portraits take a look at us and explore the differences in media, material and styles used to portray contemporary figures and faces. We will compare Elizabeth Peyton’s portraits painted in oil on wood with Fiona Tan’s video installation Countenance (2002). What do their portraits show us? How have these artists modernized classical portraiture?


Elizabeth Peyton, Savoy (Tony), 1999
Oil on wood, 35.7 × 42 cm, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Elizabeth Peyton, Photo: Bisig & Bayer, Basel

Fiona Tan, Countenance, 2002
Four-channel video installation (tinted black-and-white, mono), 4 screens, 2 rooms, 1 screen 62 × 47 cm, 3 screens 199 × 149 cm each, Ed. 2/4, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Fiona Tan
Installation view "Continuously Contemporary. New Works from the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation" at the Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart from 13.2.–9.5.2021, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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The growing presence of digital databases and the Internet applies to the art world as well where practices of collecting, storing and showing receive ever greater attention. We address this issue in Module 5 from the perspective of works by Tacita Dean, Fiona Tan, Christian Boltanski, Matthew Barney and others. What constitutes a collection? What is part of it, what is left out of it and why? What forms of presentation are chosen for a collection? And how do collections contribute to our experience and reading of the world?


Tacita Dean, FLOH, 2000
Digital Epson Print, 25 parts, various sizes, Ed. 10/10, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Tacita Dean, Photo: Bisig & Bayer, Basel

Matthew Barney, Cremaster 3, 2002
2 Silkscreened DVDs, stainless steel, internally lubricated plastic, marble, sterling silver in acrylic vitrine; 35mm film transferred from video (colour, Dolby Surround), 181:59 min, 110.5 × 122 × 102 cm, Ed. 7/10 + 2AP, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Matthew Barney, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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Grease, felt, wax, vaseline, chocolate, cardboard, plaster, iron, concrete, chalk, unfired clay, textiles, wood, neon tubes, plastic – these are just some of the materials that artists single to best suit the design and implementation of their ideas. In this module we look at such works as Monika Sosnowska’s Concrete Ball or Jean-Frédéric Schnyder’s cardboard pieces and explore the relationship between material and idea. Chicken or egg: did the material inspire the idea or did the idea necessitate the material?


Monika Sosnowska, Concrete Ball, 2008
Concrete and reinforcing steel, ball: ∅ 200 cm, iron: approx. 10–12 m, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Monika Sosnowska, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

Jean-Frédéric Schnyder
HANDLE WITH CARE, 2012; DO NOT DROP OR TURN UPSIDE DOWN, 2012; REUSE OF THIS BOX IS PROHIBITED - BY LAW (Typ A / Typ B), 2012; KEEP AT 58°F OR 14°C, 2012; KEEP AT 58°F OR 14°C*, 2012
Banana boxes, cardboard, adhesive tape, various sizes
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation,
on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Jean-Frédéric Schnyder, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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In Module 7, we examine the sculptures Rat King (1993) by Katharina Fritsch and the upside-down hanging Leaping Foxes (2018) by Bruce Nauman. What artistic processes are involved until works like these can be installed in a room? How do Fritsch and Nauman create the impact of their works on the viewer? How do they deal with myths, fictions, legends or stories that shape our collective unconscious?


Katharina Fritsch, Rattenkönig [Rat-King], 1993
Polyester, pigment, height 280 cm 280 cm, ∅ 1300 cm
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation,
on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
(permanently installed at Schaulager Basel)
© 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich, Katharina Fritsch, Photo: Ruedi Walti, Basel

Bruce Nauman, Leaping Foxes, 2018
Polyurethane foam with steel and wire ropes
363.5 × 246 × 224 cm
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, gift of the president 2018,
on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Bruce Nauman / 2022 ProLitteris, Zurich
Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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In Module 8, we expose ourselves to the immersive situations of Bruce Nauman's multimedia installation Shadow Puppets and Instructed Mime (1990) and Jane and Louise Wilson's video installation Gamma(1999). We test how they make our sensory experiences productive with their arrangement of light, darkness, sound and image in space. How do we deal with the situations they deliberately create? How do they manipulate our perception when we move there in the space?


Jane & Louise Wilson, Gamma, 1999
Four-channel video installation (colour, mono), Ed. 1/3
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation,
on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Jane & Louise Wilson, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

Bruce Nauman, Shadow Puppets and Instructed Mime, 1990
Six-channel video installation (colour, sound), 4 projections, 4 colour video monitors, 3 wax heads, 2 linen cloths, wire, wood and carton
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation,
on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Bruce Nauman / 2022 ProLitteris, Zurich
Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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In Module 9, we look at works of art that involve books, for example, Dieter Roth’s Das Meer, Teil 1 (The Sea, Part 1, 1968), made with the help of chocolate and a poem, or Paul Chan’s Volumes (2012), an installation consisting of 1005 book covers. We also discover silkscreens by Andy Warhol, Christopher Wool or Katharina Fritsch. In the library, we encounter artists’ books – some oversized, others tiny. How do artists expand the boundaries of such a familiar medium?


Dieter Roth, Das Meer, Teil 1 [The Sea, Part 1], 1968
Wood, chocolate, strips of paper, 16 × 41.5 × 46 cm
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation,
on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Dieter Roth Estate, Photo: Bisig & Bayer, Basel

Paul Chan, Volumes, 2012
Installation consisting of 1005 painted book covers (oil on fabric, paper and synthetic leather)
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation,
gift of the president 2012, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Paul Chan, Photo: Bisig & Bayer, Basel

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How can identities be constructed, identified and compared? Is there such a thing as a genuine self or a true likeness? What can an image say, what can’t it say? In our mediatized world, we rely more and more on such devices as selfies to create an identity, which we then communicate on social media or other platforms. In Module 10, we learn how Andrea Zittel, Mark Wallinger, Dennis Oppenheim, Cindy Sherman, Bruce Nauman and others exploit themselves as role models in their artistic study of such issues as identity, the self and the ego.


Mark Wallinger, Self Portrait (Copperplate Gothic Bold, shortened), 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 213.5 x 152.5 cm
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Mark Wallinger, Photo: Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler

Andrea Zittel, detail of the group of works A-Z Personal Uniforms (created between 1991 and 2003),
presented in this selection during the exhibition "Andrea Zittel, Monika Sosnowska. 1:1"
at Schaulager from 26 April to 21 September 2008
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel
© Andrea Zittel, Photo: Tom Bisig, Basel

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You can also visit Dieter Roth’s Selbstturm; Löwenturm (Self tower, Lion tower), an installation of figures cast in chocolate and sugar, on request. The Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation acquired this monumental and extremely fragile work in 1989. It has since been installed in a room across from the Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart in what was once the artist’s studio.


Contact

Andreas Blättler
T +41 61 335 32 26
kunstvermittlung@schaulager.org

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