Is a performance only a performance when it is carried out by a live act? What does “activate” mean in this context? Can visitors’ imaginations also serve as a form of activation? After all, one of our most impressive abilities is to imagine events that are not actually present or happening at the moment that we are envisioning them. All of the invited artists refer to this very moment of activation—whether through actions depicted in film and video, thus making them tangible, or through sound, acoustics, surprising forms and textiles that occupy or even fill the space and encourage these ideas of action.

This comprehensive exhibition will be accompanied by a series of live performances and acts that will take place on various dates over the duration of the exhibition, presented by Juliette Uzor and other performers as well as the graduates of the 2025 Doing Fashion program at Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW.