The art space Hebel_121 in Basel is a very special place in many respects. Since 1998, it has presented an international program, which, through the two large display windows of the former bakery, also offers a glimpse of the exhibitions from the outside. However, Hebel_121 owes its unique character to the people who run the art space: Gerda Maise and Daniel Göttin. In this video, Gerda Maise tells the story of the Hebel_121 art space—and also her own life story. (in German, English translation available via YouTube settings).
Interview with Gerda Maise, Hebel_121 Art Space Basel (XL). Basel (Switzerland), April 13, 2025.
Excerpt from a text by Iris Kretzschmar, Translation Aoife Rosenmeyer:
Life – Art – Life
If challenging artistic activity is to be visible, if it is to make a name for itself, it needs committed people and a suitable location. The art space Hebel_121 in Basel offers both. For 20 years Hebel_121 has been a meeting place for an international art audience, while catching the eye of busy passers-by every day. In both large display windows and in the small Kabinett gallery five to six different exhibitions of contemporary art a year can be discovered. Among these are many exciting, unfamiliar national and international practices. Gerda Maise and Daniel Göttin’s passionate interest lies in these very activities on the margins of the art scene. They define their curatorial selection with a critical eye and a keen sense for artistic quality, surprising their public with real finds. Through unconventional exhibitions they offer many newly discovered artists a window to the world. Artists both, they long dreamed of connecting life and art in such a way that they might add weight to their aesthetic leanings. What is important for them in this practice is not just their private satisfaction but also to sensitise the public to the contemporary. Both do a great deal of work for no financial reward.
It is all the more impressive, thus, that Hebel_121 has already existed for two decades and asserts its position independently from the art market. Well-earned appreciation came during the anniversary year, demonstrating that the art space both enriches the Basel art scene and is highly regarded beyond the Swiss border. An unexpected financial grant from a foundation guaranteed the space’s continuation for the next two years.
Beginnings
In 1985 Gerda Maise and Daniel Göttin’s vision of finding a space for living art and an artistic life began to become reality. When the shop space with attached flat and bakehouse of a former bakery became available, they grabbed the chance and rented the ground floor. Some years later, together with three others, they bought the whole property. A truly unique opportunity! In addition to the shop with its two generous windows the rooms on the corner of Hebelstrasse and St. Johanns-Ring in the Basel-West district offered somewhere for the artist pair to live. Since then, what had been the bakery, right next to their living space, has served as a studio and workshop.
It took some time before the shop was converted into an exhibition space. Finally, in 1997/98 the art space Hebel_121 could be opened. With an exchange exhibition between Japan and Switzerland Maise and Göttin spanned the globe, from Europe to Asia, Australia, America, and laid the seeds for a fruitful network. Relationships and artistic friendships marked by aesthetic affinity were fostered and nurtured through studio residencies and art projects abroad.
