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Media Release, Basel, 11 August 2020

With great sadness, Liste Art Fair Basel has decided to cancel this year’s edition of the fair. Despite the new location, a comprehensive safety protocol and a focus on primarily European exhibitors and visitors, the situation on the continent has worsened in recent weeks to an extent that makes it impossible for us to hold the fair with a clear conscience. We, our galleries and our partners have become increasingly concerned about everyone’s health and safety, and the increased travel restrictions for high-risk countries are affecting more and more European countries, preventing an ever-growing number of our exhibitors from travelling to Basel. These two factors combined have led us to the decision to not hold a physical fair this year.

That being said, we are committed to the belief that art, and especially young contemporary art, must not be cancelled. We encourage everyone to support the galleries and their artists, both locally and via digital means, so they can continue to produce and exhibit the art that is so urgently needed in a world of uncertainty. We see the power of art to give shape to this immaterial state and to develop new ways of seeing and thinking, the diversity of which is particularly valuable when the world is in crisis.

We would like to take a moment to thank our galleries and their artists who, despite the adverse circumstances, took the risk of planning a fair in the times of COVID-19 with unparalleled levels of courage and enthusiasm, exemplifying their commitment to once again present art physically. During the many months in which we and the participating gallerists discussed the postponement of the fair and potential alternative models, the implementation of a fair without Art Basel and finally the cancellation, a special community has been created. We are more than grateful for this experience.

We would also like to note that the Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art in Basel will continue to support Liste artists with subsidies for their production costs, even though the resulting works of art will not be shown at Liste this year.

Our very special thanks go to our long-standing main partner E. Gutzwiller & Cie, Banquiers, whose commitment to Liste cannot be described in words. Without this partner at our side, Liste would be hard to imagine.

Our thanks are also extended our partners Helvetia Versicherungen, Carhartt, Kunsthaus Baselland, Steudler Press, Globus, Samsung and Vitra, all of whom supported our wish to carry out Liste despite COVID-19.

And finally, although it isn’t physical, we are happy that our new digital platform, Liste Showtime, will allow 72 galleries to present one artist from their programme online and offer works for sale next month. The VIP Preview will run from 11–13 September and it will then be open to the public from 14–20 September. In addition to the digital platform for galleries, Liste Showtime will also present an artists’ project entitled “Rewriting Our Imaginations”; posters created by the galleries’ artists will be shown and sold online as well as on view in public space in Basel from 2–15 September 2020. Detailed information about Liste Showtime, including “Rewriting Our Imaginations”, will follow next week.

We look forward to your virtual visits to Liste Showtime as well as to personally welcoming visitors again next year at Liste Art Fair Basel 2021.

With warm regards,
Joanna Kamm and the Liste Team