Open Studios, international collaborations, new public programs, performances, exhibitions, and a major music release highlight La Becque Artist Residency’s late spring and summer 2026 season.
LA TOUR-DE-PEILZ, Switzerland — La Becque Artist Residency has announced an extensive late spring and summer 2026 program featuring exhibitions, performances, publications, public events, and international collaborations that showcase the outcomes of its residency initiatives and cross-border partnerships.
Located on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, La Becque continues to strengthen its role as a platform for artistic research, experimentation, and interdisciplinary exchange. The 2026 season brings together artists, writers, musicians, and researchers working across diverse fields while fostering dialogue between local and international creative communities.
A new cohort of residents is currently based at La Becque, including Alice Bucknell, Zoé Samudzi, Drew McDowall, Mira M. Yang, and Puer Deorum. The residency program also welcomes participants through partner initiatives, including Mahshid Rafiei, invited in collaboration with Pro Helvetia, and Vera van de Seyp, Benjamin Fanni, and Clemens Fischer through a partnership with ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne.
One of the season’s key public events will take place on July 25, when La Becque opens its studios to visitors for a new edition of Open Studios. The event will provide the public with an opportunity to explore works in progress, meet resident artists, and gain insight into the research and creative processes shaping their projects.
The organization is also contributing to activities surrounding Art Basel week. On June 17, Kunsthalle Basel’s Wednesday Special program, supported by La Becque, will present a series of conversations and performances connected to the exhibitions of Janiva Ellis and future resident Shuang Li.
Program highlights include a public conversation between Janiva Ellis and musician Kelela, a concert by Soo Joo presented within Shuang Li’s exhibition “Alliance,” and a live performance by Divide & Dissolve staged within Ellis’s exhibition “Geneva.” These events aim to encourage dialogue between visual art, music, and performance while expanding the public reach of contemporary artistic practices.
A significant new initiative for 2026 is the launch of a public program series that succeeds the six editions of Modern Nature. The inaugural event, developed in collaboration with Italian artist NZIRIA and cultural practitioners from Naples’ queer cultural community, will take place on July 3 and 4.
The project examines archives as active and evolving forms of cultural transmission. Rather than focusing solely on institutional preservation, the program explores how histories are carried forward through bodies, voices, music, rituals, and collective practices. Through listening sessions, conversations, and a DJ set, participants will encounter archives as dynamic materials that are continuously interpreted, remembered, transformed, and shared.
La Becque’s international engagement extends beyond Switzerland through a series of collaborative projects across Europe and the Americas. On June 27 and 28, future residents HMOT and Dania Shihab will join Rosso Polare and Giada Pignotti in Turin, Italy, for a newly commissioned durational performance presented as part of Spellbound.
Curated by ALMARE, Spellbound is a two-day event focused on themes of sleep, dreams, and sonic imagination. The program will also feature a sleeping concert by Nkisi, developed in collaboration with Nyege Nyege, further expanding the event’s exploration of sound-based artistic experiences and experimental performance formats.
In another major international initiative, La Becque is participating in Tender Mesh, a transnational fellowship that connects artists and institutions across Colombia, Mexico, and Switzerland. The project investigates embodied knowledge, digital technologies, and contemporary models of collaboration through a network of artists, curators, and cultural organizations.
Supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia through its Synergies program, Tender Mesh brings together the curatorial duo MSD, Espacio Odeón in Bogotá, and La Becque. Participating artists include Ana María Millán, Andrea Carrillo, and former La Becque resident alfatih.
Publishing and sound-based artistic practice also remain central components of La Becque’s activities. Following previous releases by Stephen O’Malley, Kali Malone, and Leila Bordreuil, La Becque Editions has announced its latest publication, “Midmeste,” a collaborative album by former residents Judith Hamann and James Rushford.
Published in partnership with Black Truffle Records, the album emerged from residency periods at Akademie Schloss Solitude and La Becque. The recording combines cello and pipe organ and includes material captured on the historic organ of the Basilica of Valère in Sion, an instrument widely recognized as the world’s oldest playable organ.
Through its residency programs, public events, international partnerships, and publishing initiatives, La Becque continues to promote innovative artistic practices that cross disciplinary and geographic boundaries. The late spring and summer 2026 program demonstrates the organization’s ongoing commitment to supporting research-driven creativity, fostering cultural exchange, and creating opportunities for meaningful engagement between artists and audiences worldwide.
Chemin de la Becque 1
La Tour-de-Peilz Vaud 1814
Switzerland
