Print this page When the German curator Stefanie Hessler visited Basel last autumn, she was struck by the number of empty storefronts along the city's main street. The proliferation of "For Rent" signs is a familiar sight in many cities whose fabric has been fundamentally altered by the pandemic, including New York, where Hessler is director of the Swiss Institute, a tastemaking downtown contemporary art space. The vacancies inspired her vision for this year's edition of Parcours, Art Basel's platform for art in public places.
Twenty-two artists will occupy some of the empty spaces as well as functioning shops that are more likely to be frequented by locals than globe-trotting art collectors. For example, the Stockholm-based artist Lap-See Lam, whose work is often inspired by the Chinese restaurant her family operated in Sweden, will present a video installation inside the local mall's food court. "Public space is changing so deeply," says Hessler, looking every inch the curator in an oversize blazer, as we have tea in the library of the Swiss Institute a few weeks ahead of the fair.
"We've changed how we shop, how we buy groceries, how we interact with one another." 'Tales of the Altersea' (2023) by Lap-See Lam © Courtesy the artist/Galerie Nordenhake. Photo: Jean-Baptiste Béranger/Bonniers Konsthall Fittingly for Art Basel, many of the works in Parcours engage with themes of consumption, commerce and the circulation of goods, people and information.
Amid the racks of a c.