You will follow the Rhein and compose play

The artist and curator Temitayo Ogunbiyi explores the potential of playful interaction to investigate topics such as migration and exchange, as well as material and social cultures. The first part of her project is Playground that invites visitors to climb, shimmy, and play in Solitude Park near Museum Tinguely in Basel as early as May 21, 2023. The work links her home-town Lagos with Basel: the shapes of the steel bars trace the paths that connect the two cities. In October, the multimedia exhibition "You will follow the Rhein and compose play" at Museum Tinguely presents her works on paper and interactive musical installations. It is the first overview of Ogunbiyi’s practice in Switzerland, with works made since 2016 as well as objects made specifically for the show. In many cases, she took her inspiration from the City of Basel itself – as a place where possibilities for interaction open up in the form of meetings, conversations, and cooperations across diverse cultures, countries, languages, and goods. The exhibition includes drawings and design elements that offer insights into Ogunbiyi’s approach to her Playgrounds, as well as other works on paper that depict plants and fruits, the result of her engagement with local vegetation and the importing of foreign types of fruit and vegetables. In this show, the artist experiments with sustainable and playful forms of presentation. For example, visitors can explore the content of discarded vintage furniture – an intimate exhibition situation reflecting the ways data and information are stored and preserved, and the population groups to which they are made accessible. Finally, various strands of research have flowed into the development of a new musical instrument. Made out of curved brass rods and kitchen utensils sourced in Basel, the instrument examines links to various communities in Basel via their cuisine and music. The instrument will be activated during guided tours of the exhibition. Having lived and worked in Lagos, Nigeria, for over 10 years, Temitayo Ogunbiyi largely follows West African and Caribbean cultural traditions. She lives amidst diverse communities, botanical cultures, and human history, seeking to forge connections between them. The systems that capture, mediate, and guide the movement of people, information, and matter are a recurring theme in her work. In 2017, she began developing her first functional playground sculpture in response to the few playgrounds she could find in Lagos for her young children. Temitayo is the recipient of several awards and fellowships including the 2020-2021 Digital Earth Fellowship, the 2018 Smithsonian Artist in Research Fellowship, and the 2014 Ford Foundation Fellowship. You can find more information on the website of Museum Tinguely. Artist website Sonic Space Basel @Tinguely, 18.10.2023. 19:30 In collaboration with Basel Academy of Music FHNW and on the occasion of Temitayo Ogunbiyi - You will follow the Rhein and compose play, students of Christian Diersteins’ percussion class musically interpret Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s installation. Free admission