Culturescapes — SAHARA
Culturescapes is a multidisciplinary biennial arts festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023. Since 2003, the festival focuses on the cultural landscapes of countries and regions. Based in Basel, it extends its presence far beyond one city or country with the network of more than 40 partner institutions all over Switzerland, in Belgium, and in the three-countries region between Switzerland, Germany, and France.
With each edition the festival aspires to promote cross-border dialogue and mutual learning between cultures, as well as cooperation and networking. In 2023, the focus for Culturescapes’ 17th edition will be on the Sahara. By connecting the seas and oceans on the opposite sides of the continent, the Sahara used to be a network of pathways and travel routes, carrying and connecting peoples and cultures. Together with artists and curators from within and around the Sahara, Culturescapes wants to talk about the Sahara today.
The festival brings together more than 80 Africa artists, including dancers, visual artists, musicians, performer, filmmakers, writers, and thinkers for the two-month program. There will be about 120 events presented with nearly 30 partner institutions in various genres, including music, theater and dance, visual arts, drama and documentary films, literature, focus events, public panel discussions, and artists talks. They will look at the moving borders of the desert and the postcolonial borders of the African countries, question resilience as a key feature of political and socio-environmental reality in Africa, and imagine the possible futures as seen from the vastness of the Sahara affected by climate change.
The festival will start with the dance theater production, “C La Vie” at Theater Basel on October 1. The exhibitions and presentations will take place in many locations throughout town; visit their website for the comprehensive schedule.
Website
culturescapes.ch/en