REGIONALE 25

At first glance, “regional” and “international” seem like contradictory terms. But wouldn’t this be easy for artists and their creative spheres to resolve? After all, the specific, unique and local often goes hand in hand with global networking, significance and impact. Many artists immerse themselves in new settings for extended periods of time, resulting in new collaborations, ideas and works. They bring their diverse personal backgrounds with them, which can then grow and flourish. But what does it mean to work outside your own cultural and social context? And how do artists approach global issues and crises that, now more than ever, require strong international collaboration and, above all, a strong international perspective? The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Regionale, which is taking place in the new Kunsthaus Baselland in Dreispitz for the first time this year, demonstrates that artists from all over the world are working here. By the same token, artists from the region travel internationally for residency programs, exhibitions and research trips, taking their knowledge and art to distant locations. They are all active on both a regional and international level and their artistic ideas and contribute to a rich and fruitful exchange. The tremendous gift of learning from one another and the quality of artists that enrich the tri-national region of Germany, France and Switzerland with their constant movement will be highlighted in this edition of the Regionale. For this year's Regionale, in cooperation with the Masterstudio Design of the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst, the Master's students will explicitly develop new objects with highly creative approaches for the Kunsthaus shop. The Regionale is an annual group exhibition developed in the context of a cross-border cooperation of 18 institutions in Germany, France, and Switzerland with a focus on local contemporary art production in the three-country region around Basel.