transients
A PROJECT BY CÉLINE MANZ
transients
During her stay at Secant Space, Céline Manz will undertake a transdisciplinary reflection on transients that combines autobiography, myths and folklore, handicraft, music and sound. This reflection will be presented in a participatory format at Saye Kolektif Kampüs in August 2025.
The project' Transients' is supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia with a 'Global Research Grant'.
More to come!
cÉline manz
*1981, lives and works in Basel (Switzerland)
“As a research-based artist with a multidisciplinary practice, my primary focus is on the mediation of hegemonic power relations through cultural practices. The examination of archives is a crucial component of this process, and the resultant findings are frequently disseminated via my website. A theoretical and archive-based inquiry is interwoven with an experiment-driven studio practice. The production process of a work can be characterized as a ‘forensic performative’ investigation, in which the body serves as a research instrument that re-enacts or emulates specific aspects pertinent to a given subject matter. This methodology generates somatic insights that facilitate a more comprehensive contextualization of a given research subject within an extensive artistic narrative.” - Céline Manz
Céline Manz is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, her work explores fragmented narratives, feminist archival gestures, and the unstable status of images across time and media. She’s the founder of STUDIO 47 PRESS, an artist-run publishing platform dedicated to multiples and small editions.
Her recent solo exhibitions include Carte Blanche at L’Aubette 1928 in Strasbourg (2024), Vessels at DOCK in Basel (2024), and 9 espaces distincts at Kunsthaus Langenthal (2020). Manz’s work has been shown internationally in group exhibitions such as the Swiss Art Awards in Basel (2024), 'We are so many here' Kunsthalle Basel (2022), 'Unraveling Frequencies, at MeetFactory in Prag, Channeling at Frieze London (2023), Annemarie von Matt – Je ne m’ennuie pas, on m’ennuie at the Centre culturel suisse in Paris (2020), and The London Open at Whitechapel Gallery (2018). Among others, she is the recipient of the 'Regionale'- prize by Basler Kunstverein (2022), the 'Swiss Kids Award 2024' (CH) the 'Studio Makers Prize 2019' (GB) and the '3Package Deal' by Amsterdam Fund for the Arts AFFK (2014).
Her projects are part of several public collections, including Kunsthalle Basel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and the National Library of the Netherlands.
