For the third edition of the “Globus Public Art Project”, Los Angeles-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer intervenes on the Globus department store’s façade as well as in several nearby locations, from the city’s historical Marktplatz to the so-called “Totehüsli”, an ossuary that was once attached to a church. For this project, Urs Fischer, internationally celebrated for the intricacy and wit of his provocative sculptures and installations, takes inspiration from Basel’s medieval “Totentanz (Dance of Death)”, an iconographic symbol of the inescapability of death and its ubiquity in life itself. Fischer’s works take up this set of motifs, transposing them into a contemporary artistic language, which confronts viewers with their own finitude. They include a self-portrait made of candle wax, skeleton sculptures inspired by art history and contemporary imagery, as well as a new production for the department store’s façade.

During the three-year renovation of its iconic department store on Basel’s historical market square, Globus is collaborating with the Fondation Beyeler on inviting artists to conceive and realise site-specific artworks.

Due to a change on the construction site for the Globus department store, the façade scaffolding and the construction containers on market square will be dismantled from 16 July 2025. This means that the large-format billboard with the artwork Eternity, 2023, by Urs Fischer, which is being shown as part of the ‘Globus Public Art Project’, will also be dismantled early. The remaining artworks that are being shown as part of the project will remain on display until 27 July.

See the press release

Opening hours “Totehüsli”, Martinskirchplatz:
23 June–27 July: Friday–Sunday, 10am–7pm