Full show Description

The Unofficial Hiking Society AG is a transdisciplinary collective based in Basel, Switzerland. Through physical and digital hikes on changing topics, the AG creates spaces for collective experiences and exchange of knowledge, directly in public space. The focus lies on “unofficial” counter-narratives to dominant narratives that corporations or public institutions tell about themselves. In this context, the “unofficial” stands for resistance to economic norms, conformity and bureaucracy, and counters these with the direct appropriation of the spaces around us, as the walks usually take place without advance notice and outside of institutions' radar. Through the methodology of artistic research and collective hikes, the AG seeks to make visible and reflect on public space, its inherent exclusionary structures towards certain groups and communities as well as on methods of accessibility. This politicization of the public sphere is closely linked to a critique of capitalism and neoliberalism as well as to a reflection on what is considered “public” or “private” realm.