Cartoonmuseum Basel

A place full of stories: The Cartoonmuseum Basel

TEXT: MARILENA STRACKE | PHOTOS © CARTOONMUSEUM BASEL

Immerse yourself in a world of stories and art. Switzerland’s only museum dedicated to the art of narrative drawing attracts both young and old alike. The carefully curated exhibitions at the Cartoonmuseum Basel include anything from comics, graphic novels and cartoons to satirical drawings and animated films.

The Cartoonmuseum Basel is not your ordinary museum. Devoted to narrative drawing, it is a place that welcomes experimentation and asks critical questions through drawn storytelling. “With three to four curated temporary exhibitions per year, the Cartoonmuseum Basel presents the most exciting, most creative and best comic and cartoon artists from around the world,” says director and curator Anette Gehrig. “Joost Swarte, Christoph Niemann, Robert Crumb, Joe Sacco, Lorenzo Mattotti, Ulli Lust – they’ve all been here.”

This year will close with the retrospective Le Monde de Tardi by famous French comic artist Jacques Tardi, the author of legendary works such as Goddamn this War!. In April 2019, the retrospective of Joann Sfar, creator of the famous series The Rabbi’s Cat and currently one of the most-successful artists of Nouvelle Bande Dessinée, is not to be missed. This is Sfar’s first large-scale overview exhibition and will showcase various works of the multi-talented artist who is also a great screenwriter, novelist and film director.

“Often, our artists are present to sign books during the vernissage, which is always an exciting event for the fans,” Gehrig adds. “However, my personal favourite part of the museum is the open library where we sometimes have to gently remind young readers that we are closing because they are completely immersed in our treasures of storytelling.”

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