In the summer of 2026, an immersive, temporary total work of art was created in a vacant building slated for demolition. For several weeks, artists from the urban art and graffiti scene transformed the property through murals, structural interventions, and comprehensive spatial installations. The house itself became part of the artwork, with its transience serving as a central element of this creative temporary use.
We were honored to welcome over 2,500 visitors and thank them immensely. We are thrilled to have inspired so many people. Pictures, a video, 360-degree views, and a virtual tour can be found on the project website.
Promoting urban art in public space, offering it a platform and creating access for viewers: Creating access inside - this was the guiding principle under which the Verein Urbane Kunst in Basel was founded in 2015. We promote local artists, play an important role in networking the national and international street art scene, create new opportunities and a platform for encounters and exchange through our events. We represent a selection of local and international artists and are contact persons for commissions and art mediation.
The association is made up of local artists and street art enthusiasts. We work on a voluntary basis and run a non-profit association. Because it is a matter of the heart, our work serves solely to promote art and culture.
From March 6 to 10, 2024, we once again had the honor of representing ourselves and street art culture at Spring Basel. With our merchandise stand and the art market featuring various artists, we again brought hip-hop flair and cultural diversity to the exhibition hall.
Our program included live paintings, graffiti and breakdance workshops, and DJ sets on the weekend. With an included bar, we had guests dancing until late in the evening. Once again, we had a growing gallery with works by participating artists. This year, we also had the Hip-Hop Zoo Basel on board, who were responsible for breakdance and hip-hop workshops and brought great vibes.
The highlight for us was the participating artists, dancers, and the growing art market! It's always a pleasure to see professionals at work. Among others:
Thank you for your energy and performance! Although we unfortunately couldn't accommodate everyone at our highly frequented workshops—this year we even had to offer an extra one—we were able to inspire young and old alike. The competence of the exhibition team professionally supported us once again, and the collaboration was a true pleasure. From our perspective, a very successful event. Thank you at this point, and see you next time!
IMG-20240319-WA0017.jpg
spring24_web_1.jpg
IMG-20240319-WA0028.jpg
IMG-20240319-WA0030.jpg
IMG-20240319-WA0038.jpg
IMG-20240319-WA0040.jpg
IMG-20240319-WA0045.jpg
spring24_13.jpg
spring24_3.jpg
spring24_44.jpg
spring24_43.jpg
spring24_29.jpg
spring24_26.jpg
spring24_39.jpg
spring24_38.jpg
spring24_23.jpg
spring24_22.jpg
spring24_36.jpg
spring24_34.jpg
spring24_21.jpg
spring24_2.jpg
spring24_32.jpg
spring24_31.jpg
spring24_16.jpg
spring24_14.jpg
spring24_30.jpg
Brewery Music Session 2023
The unique location of the Birtel Fahrbar train car was ideal for a small event for and with friends! As part of the "Brewery Music Session", we, the Verein Urbane Kunst, hosted a live painting session on September 9, 2023. The surroundings with the old train car on the unused tracks in the Dreispitz industrial area perfectly complemented the graffiti.
Usual suspects like Bust, Ivandfrei, Desq91, SonicOne, Ownt.One, Niro, Shez, and Crbz were part of the event. A heartfelt thank you for your commitment and the best company! Special thanks for the platform, organizational support, drinks, and food go to the Birtel team!
May life be colorful and totally wild!
birtel1.jpg
birtel10.jpg
birtel11.jpg
birtel12.jpg
birtel13.jpg
birtel2.jpg
birtel3.jpg
birtel4.jpg
birtel5.jpg
birtel6.jpg
birtel7.jpg
birtel8.jpg
birtel9.jpg
Urban Heart 2023
Artists and Members Urbane Kunst
Urban HeArt 2023
...was a complete success in every respect! With the fifth edition of this event, we tried to counteract the grievance of the male-dominated and homophobic graffiti and street art scene. With approx. 45% female artists, we unfortunately did not quite reach our goal, but are proud to have put together such a diverse line-up. With all the diverse artists, characters, and styles, it became an extremely colorful, inspiring, and exhausting weekend, full of fun and joy with new and old friends! Thank you for your presence, your energy, and for traveling all the ways to participate in this event!
This year, we would also like to express our sincere thanks for the collaboration with Bell AG and all other sponsors, especially the MS-Evolutie team, who made our welcome event possible in the first place! Extraordinary thanks also go to Belton-Molotow and Bosshard AG Basel, without whose material sponsorship this event would not have been possible!
From March 22 to 26, 2023, we had the honor of representing ourselves and street art culture at Spring Basel. We were represented by a merchandise stand, live paintings, workshops, and a gallery. Our growing gallery featuring works from participating artists was an absolute eye-catcher, and it was huge fun to watch it grow. The highlight for us was the participating artists and their artworks! It is always a pleasure to see professionals at work. Among others:
Ksen (USB), Martin Tiziani, Momo, Brainfart, Baten (GUT), Adam Lachner, Ivandfrei
Thank you for your energy and performance! Although we unfortunately couldn't accommodate everyone at our highly frequented workshops, we were able to inspire young and old alike. The competence of the exhibition team supported us extensively, and the collaboration was a true pleasure. From our perspective, a successful event.
brainfart.png
bust.png
gallery1.png
gallery2.png
gallery3.png
gallery4.png
ivandfrei.png
workshop4.png
workshop3.png
workshop2.png
workshop1.png
timoKlebt.png
stand.png
shez.png
momo.png
ksen.png
Urban Heart Basel 2022
URBAN HEARTBASEL – PART FOUR.
From June 17 to 19, 2022, for the fourth edition of Urban Heart Basel, we hijacked the Rhine ship MS Evolutie and offered you an insight into the art forms of graffiti and street art. The spacious area in the belly of the MS Evolutie served as our floating gallery, while the ship's sides simultaneously became a painted artwork.
During Art Basel, we docked at a different pier on the Rhine every day from Friday to Sunday.
On deck, we hosted live painting events where visitors could experience the creation of a painting firsthand. In addition to the main project MS Evolutie (ms-evolutie.ch), various artworks were created at locations distributed throughout the city of Basel. PDF flyer (incl. map) download
Artists at Urban Heart Basel Atelier wandART • Bazk • Brainfart • Bustart • Cayo • Dest Jones • Dezq • Graphtype • Carl Kenz • Kron • Magoo • Malik • Mossy Giant • Nils • Niro • Ontwan • Push • The London Police • Seifrei • Skate • Shez • Tarek Abu Hageb • Weird
Change of Colors Basel 2020 – the largest wall painting in Switzerland
In August 2020, an urban art event took place at the Bell area in Basel. The international street art greats Mr. Cenz (UK), Bane & Chromeo (CH), and Bust (CH) created three large murals on an area of approx. 800m2.
In addition, 30 artists painted the other walls around the site in Basel. Over a length of more than 200 meters, national and international greats from the graffiti and street art scene painted, including Fafa, Boogie, Pollo, Seifrei, Cole, Kesy, Kron, Tizer, Seyo, Sonic, and many more.
All in all, 1700 square meters of wall were painted. This is a Swiss record!
The first Urban Art Festival in Switzerland took place in the halls of Messe Basel. A unique, top-class urban art event!
On 410m2, we showcased paintings, prints, installations, and much more from some of the best artists in the field of graffiti and street art.
14 national and international artists created live paintings during the festival, giving visitors a deeper insight into this young art form.
Whether for a school class, youth club, team-building event, or bachelor party: graffiti workshops offer an impressive experience. It is a primal human need to leave a mark – and painting walls with color is simply fun. Experience shows that adults and children alike enjoy working with spray cans.
Thanks to the diversity of our artists, we can draw on a broad repertoire of styles, techniques, and experience. This allows us to design each workshop according to individual wishes. In addition to a technical introduction on how to use spray cans, we flexibly adapt the schedule to the participants.
Contact for inquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via the contact form at the bottom of the page.
Murals
Color to take away the gray of everyday life, make our living space and neighborhood more attractive, bring people into contact and exchange ideas, create reference points and orientation aids; this and much more can be accomplished by public art in urban space. With targeted wall designs, one quarter becomes an open-air museum; freely accessible and tangible for people of all kinds and classes.
As a non-profit organisation, we only serve as an intermediary between artists and clients. We work with various artists from Switzerland, the Basel region and abroad. Our goal is to provide artists with as many areas in public space as possible and to have them creatively designed. There are no limits to the options for objects that we can creatively design: vehicles, house facades, street passages, sidewalks, shop windows, shops, personal items and private objects. So don't hesitate to contact us with crazy ideas. Our artists make it possible!
nice to work with u: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Support us
You have the option of supporting the Verein Urbane Kunst association.
As a passive member you can support the association with an annual membership fee. Of course you will be invited to all events, get access to the events and of course you can also take part in our annual general meeting. The minimum contribution per year is Chf 50.-; However, you are welcome to round up at your discretion. We are very happy about any support!
Download the registration form and email it to us. We will then be happy to add you to our address list and inform you about everything else. We would be happy to welcome you as a member.
If you just want to support us with a donation, feel free to use our Twint or IBAN (Verein Urbane Kunst CH51 0900 0000 6180 1222 4 ). You can provide your email as the payment reference, and we will add you to our mailing list.
.png)
