We celebrate our 150th anniversary this year. Since our opening in 1872, more than 1200 exhibitions have been shown here and advertised in the urban space by posters. The colloquium More than Advertising – Posters at Kunsthalle Basel deals with the history and present of exhibition posters and asks about their task and function. How are exhibitions translated into posters? Under what conditions does this happen in the case of Kunsthalle Basel? What weight do curatorial considerations have in this process? What role do the exhibiting artists play?
The event is divided into two parts. The artistic exhibition posters of Kunsthalle Basel in the era of Wilhelm Barth (1909-1934), its first curator, will be discussed, as well as the period of Arnold Rüdlinger (1955-1967) and Peter F. Althaus (1968-1973), in which Basel trade school teachers such as Armin Hofmann set the tone as poster designers. The second part is dedicated to the exhibition posters that have been created since 2014 under the current director Elena Filipovic. Representatives of our institution, as well as graphic designers, will share their thoughts.
Location of the event: Plakatsammlung der Schule für Gestaltung Basel, Freilager-Platz 6, 4142 Münchenstein
Participation is free of charge. Please register at
You can find the full program here.