How art connects people – Swiss Post at the Locarno Film Festival

The Locarno Film Festival is opening its doors. Not only will Locarno host thousands of visitors from all over the world in August, but also 200 young artists. They’re drawn to BaseCamp, situated just a few steps from the Piazza Grande.

Swiss Post at BaseCamp

We look around curiously. What is there and where can we find it? You can hear French, Italian and of course a lot of English merging together in a cacophony of voices. On this day, scenographer Agnes Murmann and graphic designer Nicole Brugger don’t see much of it as they’re busy putting the finishing touches to “their” space in BaseCamp.

200 aspiring 18- to 30-year-old artists from all over the world and from different fields of art will live at BaseCamp in Locarno for the eleven days of the festival. They were selected in advance and are each preparing an art project. During the festival, they will be able to showcase their talent, share their ideas, create synergies and launch new projects.

From construction kit to creativity

Swiss Post has been bringing people together for 175 years. With letters, postcards – but also with art. Right from the very beginning, every stamp Swiss Post has produced has been a small work of art. Agnes Murmann and Nicole Brugger are continuing along this path with BaseCamp. Together with Swiss Post, the two have created a space to encourage encounters.

“We see our space, ‘il Posto’, as a kind of construction kit,” says Agnes Murmann. “We provide modules that invite people to interact with each other,” she says, while adding a few cushions made from old mail bags and tables made from Dispoboxes. It’s now clear that this is where people should come together for workshops, brainstorming and creativity. “And to make sure everyone feels good, we also have all kinds of ‘yellow’ refreshments,” adds Nicole Murmann, pointing to the yellow syrup bottles.

Making the intangible tangible

BaseCamp’s idea of making music tangible forms the focal point of the space. And this is meant literally in reference to Tony Conrad’s “Hold the Sound” The video artist aimed to make the intangible tangible. Inspired by Conrad, you can send sounds using postcards in Swiss Post’s studio.

Sending postcards not only brings senders and recipients closer, it also brings artists together. While “sending the sounds”, you’re bound to share ideas – either initially in the neighbouring library, which is intended to provide inspiration, or in the studio itself.

Justine Knuchel is behind the idea of making music tangible. Knuchel is the curator of BaseCamp. How did she come up with the idea? She explains that there’s a noticeable counter-trend towards the sense of touch, especially in her generation. “We spend so much time in front of screens that we want to hold more in our hands again.” The need to make things haptic in an age in which everything from money to love messages are no longer tangible became the overarching theme of the projects.

It’s not only the haptic that is missing in our digitized times, but also encounters. Digitization also (unfortunately) means that distances between people are increasing. This is not always an advantage. Justine Knuchel emphasizes the community spirit of art: “For me, it’s not just art projects that we’re creating here, but, above all, social projects.”

Open to festival visitors

However, the encounters shouldn’t be limited to the artists themselves. The BaseCamp pop-up is open to all. Festivalgoers are welcome to drop by. To make the BaseCamp pop-up an inviting place for people to meet, visitors are guided into the Swiss Post space by lines of yellow tape. The yellow line is reminiscent of the floor guides in the letter and parcel centers.

Everything’s ready

The wall housing the postcards is still white. The young artists are about to take up residence at BaseCamp. And everything’s ready – in ‘il Posto’, and elsewhere in BaseCamp too. The library’s shelves are filled with books. The bar is set up. The various spaces are now ready to be filled with encounters. And, as in everyday life, Swiss Post is always there in the background – hosting and connecting people.