Drawinghell 4

An art space as an alternative concept in the context of charity and control

Since 2007, Bblackbox is a meeting place of solidarity close to the reception and deportation complex Bässlergut on Basel’s city boundary. As a whole, the activities can be described as a continuous counter-performance that wants to put up resistance against an environment where asylum seekers experience the first chapter of an increasingly oppressive camp policy. Bblackbox sees itself as an independent, self-organised meeting place for people with or without documents, with or without flight biographies. The installation is embedded in the local No Border Café, a mobile self-service coffee place. Thus, Bblackbox is not a conventional white cube where one views a work of art but opens up into a meeting place, where various forms of participation are possible. At the No Border Café, asylum seekers from the reception area and locals from the city come and spend time together, exchange views, play cards or watch the artistic program. All in all, the event can be understood as a happening stretching over a period of up to ten days.

• Supported by Christoph Merian Stiftung

• bblackboxx
• Cut the Fence
• Nicht ohne unsere Freund*innen!