Art Basel is one of the world’s biggest art shows held every year at the huge exhibition hall just across the street from where my office is. It started today and will go on till 20 June. There are over 250 galleries participating this year – I think 270, which were selected from over 800 galleries who applied for a spot. There are galleries from US, Germany, France, Italy, UK and of course Switzerland along with galleries from around the world.

I still haven’t figured out who are the buyers for most work of art – as in are the artists selling to galleries or galleries selling to investors or a combination and so on. But I do know that works of art are sold – ranging from few thousand dollars for work by young artists to works worth millions of dollars for museum quality work.

One of the unique feature since last year has been the film festival associated with the exhibition. I have read lots of interesting reviews about it, though haven’t had the opportunity to see them. This time under the theme Art Unlimited there is even a performing artist presenting a work of art. The artist is lying naked with a skeleton on top of her – I am yet to see it, but it is supposed to have something to do with life and death.

But I think the most attractive part of this years show perhaps is a piece of soap made by a Swiss artist – he is selling it for around USD 18’000! What’s special about it? Well, it seems this soap is made from the fat of the Italian PM – Silvio Berlusconi. He claims to have got it from the clinic where the Italian PM had liposuction done a year or so back! Obviously not a fan of the PM, the artist is supposed to have said that he got the idea as he felt that it is perhaps more appropriate that people washed their hands with this soap rather than a soap made with pigs fat! 

Riehen, the community I live in. Going bit on a tangent, I live in a small village called Riehen, which is one of the three communities that make up the half Canton of Basel-City. It is a rather beautiful small community, very green and quite and on the foot of a hill, with a small river running by. But why I am mentioning about it here is because this small village is home to four great museums – one of international fame – Fondation Beyeler which currently is running an exhibition of surrealistic works by Picaso. Its set in a beautiful building, designed right into the landscape. It is around 5 mins walk away from where I stay.

Then there is the toy museum, with toys from 17th century onwards. The last special exhibition was about model toy trains. What is amazing is that model toy trains almost predated the arrival of

real trains – if I exagerrate a bit! But they have been around ever since the concept of trains – including the horse drawn ones! Currently they are having a special exhibition about shopping bags from 18th century onwards. This museum is right on my backyard.

Then there are two more art museums, small but nice as well. Along with these museums, there are quite a few art galleries around. Every alternate shop seem to look like a gallery to me. Since an not yet one of those HNWI (High Net Worth Individual), I don’t have an entry to any of these!