On the banks of the Rhine, defying Basel’s grey spring weather, Kunsthalle Basel invites us into a highly sensitive, sensory and politically charged ecosystem. “Bees beings beans”, the largest institutional solo exhibition to date by the 1993-born artist Diambe, continues to welcome visitors until 12 April.
Diambe moves between sculpture, painting and film, developing a distinctive language in which nature, ritual and movement form hybrid narratives. The exhibition consists of new sculptures, paintings and a film produced specifically by the artist for Kunsthalle Basel. These works transform into a choreographic depiction of bees standing on the threshold of loss and rebirth.
Living Materials and Fragile Landscapes
In Diambe’s artistic practice, material is not merely a tool but the story itself. Using living and organic materials such as fabrics, bronze, textiles, food items, egg tempera, plant-based dyes and beeswax, the artist choreographs fragile yet resilient landscapes. The choice of these materials allows the exhibition to walk the fine line between transience and resistance.
While the works in the exhibition open up discussions on themes of body, territory and cultural memory, they also deeply examine colonial archives and ecological crises. In Diambe’s world, extinction is not an end, but a transformation into a new form of being.
The Logic of a Swarm: Loss and Rebirth
As emphasised in the exhibition text, “Getting lost in Diambe’s exhibition becomes a form of being.” The works cease to be merely objects to be viewed and instead move in a timeframe that goes beyond the viewer’s gaze, with the logic of a swarm or a change in the weather.
“Bees beings beans does not aim for dissolution; it seeks to move with the logic of a swarm, with the change of weather, and with a timeframe that surpasses the moment of viewing.”
This intense and thought-provoking exhibition has been brought to life with the support of La Becque | Artist Residency and the Brazilian Embassy in Bern.
Dates: 23 January – 12 April 2026
Venue: Kunsthalle Basel, Steinenberg 7, Basel, Switzerland
