Why go
The Gegenwart building gives contemporary work a separate setting from Kunstmuseum Basel's historic and modern galleries. Opened in 1980, it focuses on art from the 1960s onward, including video as well as painting and sculpture. Its St. Alban-Rheinweg setting distinguishes it from the Hauptbau and Neubau, so verify access before planning the trip.
What to look for
- A building established for art from the 1960s onward
- A collecting scope that includes video, painting and sculpture
The full story
The Museum of Contemporary Art, now Kunstmuseum Basel's Gegenwart building, opened in 1980 as a public institution dedicated to art produced since the 1960s. Its remit included video alongside painting and sculpture, reflecting a period in which artists increasingly worked beyond traditional media. The building showed work from Kunstmuseum Basel and the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation. Some foundation holdings not on display came to be housed at Schaulager, linking two quite different Basel-area art institutions. This history explains why Gegenwart is a distinct site rather than simply another wing of the main museum. The separate address on St. Alban-Rheinweg places this contemporary focus in a different part of the city's museum geography. Visitors interested in that contrast should check current access for this address separately from the Hauptbau and Neubau before planning an interior visit.
Useful to know
- Check Kunstmuseum Basel's official visit page for current access before treating Gegenwart as an interior stop.
- Compare its contemporary-art focus with the Hauptbau and Neubau when choosing a Kunstmuseum site.
Your next visit
Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.
Outdoor visit · 30–45 min
World planning estimate; admission, opening, visit duration and access need checking.