Heute Nacht geträumt

When does the present begin? What history is shown? How does my body fit in here? Will I come back? These questions are the starting point for Ruth Buchanan's exhibition Tonight Dreamed at Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart. They serve to think about the parameters according to which a museum might function today.

Museums have taken on numerous functions over the past centuries: they have been repositories for acquired, donated, and stolen works of art; they have represented beauty, pain, and inspiration. In many ways, museums are one of those spheres that embody the complexity of what it means to be a person in the world and, as such, to simultaneously contribute to the systems that shape the world.

At the core of Aotearoa New Zealand artist Ruth Buchanan's artistic practice is her interest in the spatial-political dimension of organizational systems. She applies this perspective to the Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, delving deep into its contemporary holdings. The collection, the building, the exhibition history, they all serve to reflect processes that have shaped this institution. Buchanan's installation spreads throughout the building, ranging from signage systems to architectural interventions, inviting us to rethink our participation and influence in shaping public life.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.