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tinguely100 | Programme and Press Kit
for the 100th Birthday of Jean Tinguely
Dear media representatives,
On 22 May 2025, the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) would have turned one hundred years old. To mark this occasion, his innovative, playful, and still highly relevant work will be celebrated at Museum Tinguely and internationally with a series of exhibitions, events, and activities. In Basel, we will celebrate the birthday with a big party in Solitude Park on 22 May 2025, starting at 6 pm. The highlight of the evening will be the inauguration of the Art Ghost Train Scream Machines. This refers to the large-scale installation with a ghost train, Crocrodrome de Zig et Puce, which Tinguely created in 1977 with Bernhard Luginbühl and other artists for the opening of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Another key focus is the international conference Tinguely Revisited from 20 to 22 March 2025. Featuring performances by Samia Halaby and Sam Belinfante, this event will include outstanding artistic contributions, encouraging reflection on the kinetic, the mechanical, and the performative.
The next exhibition of the centenary year, Mechanics and Humanity: On the 100th birthday of Jean Tinguely and Eva Aeppli, will open on 23 March 2025, and can be visited until 24 August 2025 at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg.
In the press kit, you will find more details about the programme, the various international exhibitions, the new publication, and information about the artist and his work:
>> Press Kit tinguely100
>> Download Press Images
With the overarching platform www.tinguely100.com, we offer the opportunity to stay informed about upcoming birthday activities. We look forward to welcoming you to the events and would appreciate it if you could share information about the diverse programme in Basel and other locations with your audience.
For further information, the communication department is happy to assist. We look forward to an exciting birthday year with you and the many partners involved.
Best regards,
Isabelle Beilfuss/Monika Dujmović/Lena Reiff
Communications department, Museum Tinguely
International Conference
Jean Tinguely Revisited: Critical Re-Readings
and New Perspectives
20 – 22 March 2025
KW 12 EN tinguely100 Pressedossier
To mark the centenary of Jean Tinguely’s birth, Museum Tinguely is hosting an academic conference from 20 to 22 March. The conference aims to initiate, encourage, discuss, and publish new art-historical research as well as interdisciplinary studies on the work of Tinguely and his circle. The conference’s main objective is to update and critically examine Tinguely’s art in terms of contemporary issues, theories, and discourse.
>> Detailed Programme 20/21/22 March
As part of the conference, two performances will take place:
Samia Halaby and Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, 20 March 2025, at 7 pm
and Sam Belinfante, 21 March 2025, at 6 pm
Big Birthday Party
22 May 2025, from 6 pm
Solitude Park, Basel
Museum Tinguely will celebrate Jean Tinguely’s 100th birthday with a grand festival in Solitude Park, where the museum is located. The festivities will include a birthday meal, cake, and various creative and artistic interventions. The highlight of the evening will be the official inauguration of the Art Ghost Train Scream Machines, in the park in front of the museum.
Free admission, no booking required
Scream Machines – Art Ghost Train
by Rebecca Moss & Augustin Rebetez
22 May – 30 August 2025
KW 12 EN tinguely100 Pressedossier
In honor of the 100th birthday of Jean Tinguely, who died in 1991 at the age of 66, Museum Basel launched an extraordinary and challenging art project. The setup for the ghost train, designed by English artist Rebecca Moss (*1991) and Swiss artist Augustin Rebetez (*1986), has just begun in Solitude Park, in front of the museum. Scream Machines – Art Ghost Train will take visitors on a 1-2-minute journey through an immersive art landscape. It is a reference to the large-scale installation Crocrodrome de Zig et Puce, equipped with a ghost train, which Tinguely created in 1977 together with other artists for the opening of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
>> Press events: Tuesday, 20 May 2025 and during Art Basel fair week on Wednesday, 18 June 2025