"On Friday, April 25, Alexandra Pirici (Professor of Performance at AdBK Munich) will offer the keynote lecture for the opening of ACT – Performance Festival of the Swiss Art Academies at Kunstmuseum Basel, in the framework of the exhibition “Medardo Rosso. Inventing Modern Sculpture”, at the invitation of Chus Martinez (Head of the Art Gender Nature Institute at the HGK Basel) and Elena Filipovic (director of Kunstmuseum Basel).
As the festival’s keynote speaker, Pirici sets the stage for ACT Basel 2025 with reflections on the historical and contemporary relevance of performance. Pirici’s introductory talk connects performative practices to the convention of the exhibition space and the context of the museum. Looking at performance as an intermedial field, her contribution offers a brief survey of its history—its ongoing evolution and expansion into new forms and formats, in response to a transforming (art)world.
Furthermore, it emphasizes the potential of live action and/or other forms of agency to reshape and complexify traditional exhibition displays."