What are the possibilities of collaboration with museums and private persons?
The Art Centre Basel conceptualises international travelling exhibitions and offers them to major museums around the world.
You are a museum looking for a partner, due to lack of manpower, to create and organise any special thematic exhibition and accompanying scholarly catalogue.
You are a museum or private collector wanting to create thematic exchange exhibitions with an accompanying catalogue, tailored to your specifications, in partnership with another museum.
You are a museum or private collector wanting to create an international travelling exhibition from your collections and to organise the publication of an accompanying catalogue.
… then Art Centre Basel will be your ideal partner.
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FEEDBACK FROM HOST MUSEUMS
(…) Overall, our experience of working with the Art Centre Basel and with the exhibition itself was very satisfactory. First and foremost, the quality of the objects in the exhibition was of the highest caliber, which was a leading factor in our decision to take the exhibition. Second, a beautiful and scholarly publication was published by Prestel to accompany the exhibition. Third, the exhibition was well organized and every effort was made by Dr. Greub to accommodate the Kimbell's requests regarding the details of the contract. Finally, the exhibition was very well received during its run at the Kimbell. I would be pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Art Centre Basel again on an exhibition in the future.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth TX (USA), Ms. Jennifer Casler Price (Curator for Asian and Non-Western Art), host of Masterpieces from Central Africa : The Tervuren Museum (1998)
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(…) This was a major exhibition planned for our California Palace of the Legion of Honor building in 1998, for which I was the organizing curator for San Francisco. It was an extraordinary privilege to be one of the U.S. museums presenting these 125 “treasures” from Tervuren. The organizing entity for the project was ART CENTRE BASEL and throughout the planning process we were impressed with the intelligence, professionalism, and efficiency of all personnel. We would be delighted to embark on future projects with the ART CENTRE BASEL for we have the fullest confidence in their ability to produce and coordinate major exhibitions of the highest caliber.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young, San Francisco CA (USA), Ms. Kathleen Berrin (Curator in Charge: Africa, Oceania and the Americas), host of Masterpieces from Central Africa : The Tervuren Museum (1998)
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(…) The Art Centre Basel, Switzerland offered us Masterpieces from Central Africa on behalf of the Tervuren Museum in Belgium. Appointed as general contractor by Tervuren for this exhibition, the Art Centre Basel handled all budgetary aspects (on own account) and took over the co-ordination and organisation of all activities relating to the travelling nature of the exhibition: insurances, packaging, crating and transport. Further, due to the initiative of the Art Centre Basel, three new exhibition catalogues were published in English, Spanish and Catalan by Prestel Publishers, Munich. We were very satisfied with this outstanding exhibition, as well as with its organisation and would certainly be very happy to work with the Art Centre Basel on another occasion.
Fundació Caixa Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain), Mr. J. L. Giménez-Frontin (Director), host of Masterpieces from Central Africa : The Tervuren Museum (1998)
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(…) The great acclaim that this exhibition received from the public, critics and press was to a large degree the result of your institute’s commitment and the excellent training of your staff. Your assistance in both scientific and managerial matters was very competent and professional. Communication and logistics worked perfectly. You were able to find suitable solutions for all difficulties that occurred. Your reliability could also be seen in financial matters – the proposed budgets were kept to exactly. Our partnership on this project was as successful as it was trouble-free. We would be happy to work with your institute again.
Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart, Stuttgart (Germany), Dr. Johann-Karl Schmidt (Director), host of Museums for a New Millennium: Concepts, Projects, Buildings (2001)
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(…) I‘m proud to say that this exhibition was a great success at the NMCA with your devotional cooperation as well. I firmly believe that the artistic exchange between Switzerland and Korea is actively promoted through the exhibition as well.
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, Seoul (South Korea), Mr. Yoon-Soo Kim (Director), host of Museums for a New Millennium: Concepts, Projects, Buildings (2001)
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Ich komme heute endlich dazu, mich nochmals für die wunderbare und wirklich so reibungslose Zusammenarbeit im Hinblick auf die schöne Ausstellung zu bedanken, die Sie mit Ihren tüchtigen Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern entwickelt, organisiert und realisiert haben und die wir das große Glück hatten, hier als erste Station präsentieren zu können. (…) Auf jeden Fall war es eine vorzügliche und in jeder Hinsicht für uns positive Zusammenarbeit und das möchte ich an dieser Stelle noch einmal mit größtem Nachdruck zum Ausdruck bringen. (…) Vielleicht gibt es ja wieder einmal ein anderes Projekt, freilich wohl nicht mehr zu meiner Zeit hier. Die wird irgendwann enden, aber wenn ich an die beiden großen Projekte zurückdenke, war das doch eine ganz besonders schöne Erfahrung.
K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsselforf (Germany), Prof. Dr. Armin Zweite (Director), host of Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings (2006)
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(…) Sowohl die Zusammenstellung der Ausstellung als auch der begleitende Katalog waren exzellent vorbereitet und produziert, die Übernahme verlief bestens. Das Lentos konnte damit grossen Erfolg beim Publikum wie in den Medien erreichen. Wir denken sehr gern an diese Zusammenarbeit mit dem Art Centre Basel zurück und sind jederzeit offen für Vorschläge für zukünftige Kooperationen.
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Linz (Austria), Ms. Stella Rollig (Director), host of Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings ( 2007)
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(…) II ne se passe pas de semaine sans que quelqu'un me demande l'excellent catalogue que vous aviez réalisé (…) La collaboration avec votre équipe n‘a laissé que de bons souvenirs et nous espérons que dans le futur nous pourrons avoir de nouvelles occasions de faire appel a vos compétences.
Musée des Confluences, Lyon (France), Mr. Michel Côté (Director), host of Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings (2007)
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(…) We are very glad to have had the opportunity to show an exhibition of international contemporary museum architecture to the Norwegian audience. The timing of this exhibition in a period when the plans for various new museum buildings in Oslo were introduced made the arrangement to a topical talk of the town. The architectural competition for a new Munch Museum with the Stenersen Collection was announced a short time before the exhibition opened. Other plans are the new Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in 2012 by Renzo Piano, and last but not least, a new building for the National Museum, expected to be completed in 2016. We would like to thank the Art Centre Basel for the exhibition and for the positive collaboration during this project.
Nasjonalmuseet for Kunst, Architektur og Design , Oslo (Norway), Mr. Ingar Pettersen (Acting Director), host of Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings (2008)
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It is with pleasure and conviction that I write this letter acknowledging the rewarding experience of participating in the exhibition tour of Museums in the 21s' Century, organized by the Art Centre Basel. From our initial meeting in Basel until the return of the materials, I was impressed by the professionalism and efficiency of our colleagues in Switzerland. At every turn they were courteous and generous. The intellectual content of the exhibition was first rate. Every consideration was given to thoughtful management and presentation of the exhibition at our venue. We found the staff at the Art Centre Basel to be constantly at the service of their clients, diplomatically weighing the integrity of the exhibition against the budgetary and space requirements of the borrowing institution. The catalogues were delivered not only on time, but early. The staff of the Art Centre Basel acted as a liaison between borrowing institutions to help us maximize resources. Indeed, the Art Centre Basel worked in countless ways to assure the success not only the curatorial effort but also for the collective good of all participants. I can recommend the Art Centre Basel with no reservations.
Frist Center for the Visual Arts , Nashville TN (USA), Ms. Susan H. Edwards, Ph.D. (Executive Director and CEO), host of Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings (2009)
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FEEDBACK FROM A LENDING MUSEUM
Mrs. Suzanne Greub has asked me to write a letter in support of the collaboration you are contemplating with the Art Centre Basel. I have known Mrs. Greub since 1997 when the Art Centre worked closely with the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute as the inaugural venue of a multi-city American tour of the landmark exhibition, Soul of Africa: African Art from the Han Coray Collection, 1916-1928. This important collection of African art, drawn from the Zürich University's Völkerkundenmuseum, featured an extraordinary collection of material that had never before been seen in the United States. The elaborate trans-Atlantic logistical, contractual, financial, and multilingual publication arrangements were coordinated in an efficient, professional and gracious manner by Art Centre. It was because of the success of this collaboration that we asked the Art Centre to partner with us on the exhibition, Jewels of Time: Watches form the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. I was aware that the Art Centre had, in the past, successfully organized their own exhibitions and undertaken all the associated funding, logistical, administrative, publicity and catalog support, but in the case of the Jewels of Time project, we asked the Art Center to serve as the worldwide administrative coordinator for an exhibition we had already organized that was traveling in the United States under our jurisdiction. Because of the Art Centre's efforts, Jewels of Time will begin a multi-city overseas tour beginning in the summer of 2003. It would have been impossible for us to undertake such a project without their assistance. The Art Centre has been indispensable marketing the show in Europe and elsewhere, coordinating the multi-lingual contractual arrangements, negotiating translations of the English exhibition catalog into foreign languages and advising us on shipping matters. In all my interactions with Mrs. Greub on these projects I have found her to be gracious, pragmatic, tactful, detail-oriented, and sensitive to the needs and concerns of all the institutions. I am confident that the Art Centre Basel would be an invaluable partner in any collaboration you undertake with them.
Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute, Utica NY (USA), Dr. Paul D. Schweizer (Director), on Jewels of Time: Watches form the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (2002) (NB: The exhibition traveled successfully in Europe to a total of 9 destinations under ACB management in 2003-2006.)
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