On a sunny Thursday in Basel, Switzerland, art fair Art Basel hosted a ceremony celebrating the 36 shortlisted medalists for its newly created Art Basel Awards, developed in partnership with Boss. Hosted at the city’s medieval town hall Rathaus Basel, followed by a reception at Kunstmuseum Basel — which houses the oldest public art collection in the world — the awards hope to establish a platform to celebrate excellence in the art world, while differentiating Art Basel from its competitors.
The awards have pulled in more visitors than usual, the organisation says, especially as there is currently no existing major art awards platform. The city was buzzing as the art world descended on Basel to see works from Picasso and Duchamp to emerging talent like Ukrainian artist Sana Shahmuradova Tanska and Iranian artist Armineh Negahdari. Art world insiders jumped on trams to see a new Steve McQueen exhibition at art museum Schaulager and to pop by smaller fairs nearby including Basel Social Club and Liste — and some even started their days by floating down the Rhine river amid the summer heat.
