Black Money Market
Public Intervention
Basel, 2010
(Photo documentation by Ivan Eftimovski)
Intervention during the University of Basel’s 550 years celebrations. The work was an adaptation of a concept developed for the Basel Art Fair.
“I thought of doing a very simple action/intervention. This would involve setting up a makeshift shop/office (with handwritten signage, etc) very similar to low-budget informal enterprises popular across African. In South Africa, these are usually referred to as "spaza shops". <see images below for examples (only for reference purposes):>This will function like a "bureau d'exchange", where i will sell coins and notes from various African countries at a negotiable price. I will invite passers-by, offer them the money, then begin to negotiate a price in exchange for my coin/note. Prices are to be payable in Euros, Pounds, Dollars, or CHF. The coins/notes are sold with a certificate of authenticity, stating who is in possession of it (the buyer's name), and what it is worth (the price it was sold for). The certificate will be signed and stamped by myself, and kept by the "buyer".I was thinking of setting up my "bureau d'exchange" in one of these ways:
1. outside of the voltahalle, and using a megaphone to attract passers-by.
2. Inside the voltahalle, and waiting for people to arrive to the space in order to engage in the exchange.
3. In a bag, and walking around the area of the art fair as well as the Voltahalle to make offers to potential buyers.I may use a different combination of any of the three ideas as my idea evolves. The most important thing is to create a kind of money-market that goes against the rules of exchange rates between various currencies. This concept will not change, but the locations and duration of the action will get more precise as we go along with our discussions. Please let me know how far the Voltahalle is from the location of the fair. If possible, a map can help?”
-extract from e-mail sent by Donna Kukama on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 10:02 PM, as part of a proposal for Focus 09 during the Basel Art Fair.
Public Intervention
Basel, 2010
(Photo documentation by Ivan Eftimovski)
Intervention during the University of Basel’s 550 years celebrations. The work was an adaptation of a concept developed for the Basel Art Fair.
“I thought of doing a very simple action/intervention. This would involve setting up a makeshift shop/office (with handwritten signage, etc) very similar to low-budget informal enterprises popular across African. In South Africa, these are usually referred to as "spaza shops". <see images below for examples (only for reference purposes):>This will function like a "bureau d'exchange", where i will sell coins and notes from various African countries at a negotiable price. I will invite passers-by, offer them the money, then begin to negotiate a price in exchange for my coin/note. Prices are to be payable in Euros, Pounds, Dollars, or CHF. The coins/notes are sold with a certificate of authenticity, stating who is in possession of it (the buyer's name), and what it is worth (the price it was sold for). The certificate will be signed and stamped by myself, and kept by the "buyer".I was thinking of setting up my "bureau d'exchange" in one of these ways:
1. outside of the voltahalle, and using a megaphone to attract passers-by.
2. Inside the voltahalle, and waiting for people to arrive to the space in order to engage in the exchange.
3. In a bag, and walking around the area of the art fair as well as the Voltahalle to make offers to potential buyers.I may use a different combination of any of the three ideas as my idea evolves. The most important thing is to create a kind of money-market that goes against the rules of exchange rates between various currencies. This concept will not change, but the locations and duration of the action will get more precise as we go along with our discussions. Please let me know how far the Voltahalle is from the location of the fair. If possible, a map can help?”
-extract from e-mail sent by Donna Kukama on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 10:02 PM, as part of a proposal for Focus 09 during the Basel Art Fair.
