At its Box and Cabane spaces at City SALTS, Kunstverein Salts in Birsfelden (Basel, Switzerland) presents a solo exhibition by the artist Pilar Quinteros. Pilar Quinteros, born in 1988, Santiago, Chile, grew up in Chilean Patagonia. She splits her time between Barcelona, Spain, and Basel, Switzerland. With a background in art from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the Institute Art Gender Nature, IAGN, at HGK Basel FHNW. The exhibition at City SALTS is composed of a video recording of the performance performed on December 8, 2024, with a group of collaborators and friends, an installation, and a short fictional advertisement inviting everyone to drink the water from the Swiss fountains. Curated by Samuel Leuenberger and Benedikt Wyss, the exhibition at City SALTS is running until 1 June 2025.

Press text (excerpt):

Quinteros’ work blends drawing, sculpture, performance, and video, focusing on history, reality, and the transformation of environments. Her artistic approach uses simple, delicate materials to create temporary, ephemeral pieces, with the process itself vital to her work. Through video and photography, she documents her hands-on efforts, central to the intellectual development of her creations. Quinteros’ work has been presented internationally, including at the Istanbul Biennial, 2025, Folkestone Triennial, 2021, and the São Paulo Biennial, 2016. As a co-founder of the MICH Collective, 2010-2019, and part of the former Cumbia Collectivo, 2020-2024, she explores how materials and space reshape our understanding of the world.

“The process behind Blood for Blood, the exhibition at City Salts, began last year, after I moved to Basel to study at the HGK. I was living illegally in friends’ studio. Though the building was to be demolished soon, the women there worried about my presence. I felt hatred and affection, as they warned me yet gave me art supplies and laughed at my poor German. Between dodging tram fares and living in the workshop, I created a layer of camouflage or invisibility, useful but emotionally uncomfortable. It made me think about the disguises we use to do what we must, the layers above and below. Basel makes me think about this. So much wonder is hidden. In Chile, generosity comes in crises, like earthquakes or fires, while here they give away bikes and appliances. Why? Experience makes you suspicious. In Chile, strangers seem threatening. Here, most fountains have drinkable water. I haven’t tried it. A Swiss friend said it’s because of the Alps. His story feels incomplete… In Chile, we have the Andes, yet drinking from fountains is risky…

This exhibition doesn’t provide answers. It’s driven by questions and doubts. What must you do to have drinkable water in all your city’s fountains? What do you do once you have it? Help others achieve it? I found Wasser für Wasser, Water for Water, which brings water to African countries, its name suggesting a transaction. An eye for an eye, blood for blood. Nothing is free. NOTHING. Let someone tell me otherwise.”

Pilar Quinteros, 4 April 2025, Birsfelden