Schaulager Basel - Sammlung Emanuel Hoffmann

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Schaulager will be closed for construction from January to July 2012 and will reopen in late summer with new, additional storage and research facilities.

Schaulager is the home for the works in the collection of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation that are not currently on exhibition. It is a new kind of space for art. It is neither museum nor a traditional warehouse. Schaulager is first and foremost a response to the old and new needs for the storage of works of the visual arts. It dispenses with box storage and transforms the foyers of the exhibition halls into autonomous facilities, independent of any museum, with specific qualities and functions. It is a pilot programme that allows works of art to lead their own lives behind the curtains, a life that does not simply consist of an endless wait for public presentation.

Art not on exhibition is normally stored in boxes. Because it cannot be seen, its condition cannot be perceived or checked. Schaulager, by contrast, was conceived as an open warehouse that provides the optimal spatial and climatic conditions for the preservation of works of art.

Collections of contemporary art need to be more than merely static storerooms. They have to play an active role in our understanding and appreciation of art. At Schaulager, each individual work, object and installation is permanently on view. Schaulager is a unique place where art is seen and thought about differently. A place where the collection becomes a point of departure for creativity and activity, for learning and pleasure.

Its other activities and projects are by-products of the handling of stored art. The main focus is on the research and dissemination of contemporary art. Schaulager bases its activities on exchange and collaboration among specialists from the fields of art, students and researchers. By establishing the Laurenz Assistant Professorship at the Universität Basel and by running events, symposia and research projects, Schaulager is also evolving into a place for research into contemporary art.

Schaulager is primarily directed at a specialist audience: museum workers, conservators, curators, researchers, students and teachers. For occasional exhibitions, special events and two monumental permanent installations by Katharina Fritsch and Robert Gober , respectively, the Schaulager is also accessible to a broader public.

For teaching and research, Schaulager is open the entire year. Tours of the collections of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation or of the architecture of Schaulager are not possible.