Guided Tours

Schools and universities
Art education Bass

Registration SchoolsRegistration Universities

With Bass (2024), Schaulager presents a temporary work by Oscar-winning film director and artist Steve McQueen. It consists exclusively of light and sound that fills the huge interior of the building.

The light runs through the entire color spectrum and deep bass sounds can be heard. This dense soundscape was recorded with five renowned jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae musicians from the Black diaspora.

The soundscape was created in a joint session where, under the direction of McQueen and in the light of the installation, the musicians improvised with a classical double bass, various electric basses and the bass ngoni, a traditional West African instrument.

In Bass, we experience how light and sound influence our physical perception of time and space. The work also addresses issues that McQueen has been exploring for over thirty years in his films, photographs, and installations: race, the Black diaspora, subjective and collective memory, visibility and invisibility in society, and the question of who tells which stories and how they are told.

Introduction for Teachers

Introduction to the presentation of “Bass” by Steve McQueen
Exclusive offer for teachers

Wednesday 25 June 2025
Thursday, 20 March 2018
6–7.30 pm

Information & Registration

We offer an attractive art education program focused on Bass for all ages, from primary school to university. The program is free of charge.

After an introduction to Bass, we engage with the haunting presence of this immersive work. Together we explore associations, share experiences, discuss the relevant issues, and ask how they affect us.

The visits include playful and creative activities, at times entirely spontaneous and intuitive, which add depth to the shared experiences. Visits last sixty minutes (or by arrangement).

The art education programs (including admission fee) are free of charge for schools and universities both in Switzerland and abroad.

Visits to the exhibition by appointment and without a guide (only on Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays) are free for school classes from BS/BL; the cost for other schools is CH 50.00, universities CH 100.00.

Duration of visits: sixty minutes or by arrangement
Visits to Bass can be booked on all days of the week (during and outside exhibition days). Maximum group size: fifteen people. Larger groups will be split up and guided in parallel.

Tours and workshops on works of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation stored at Schaulager can be booked on days when Bass is closed (Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Friday).

Art education in the collection

Contact

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


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