Let’s test your artistic knowledge. Who is Samuel Haitz? Which artists are behind the Sun Pal duo? How do we recognize Florian Amoser’s photos? What is Cedric Zellweger’s preferred medium? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, don’t panic. You are not uneducated or disconnected. These people are neither the headliners of the major exhibitions of the moment nor the stars of the market. They are part of a more confidential circle, the finalists of the Swiss Art Awards and the Swiss Design Awards, exhibited on the sidelines of the Art Basel fair. Awarded once a year in June, these two federal prizes support dozens of designers and artists to the tune of 25,000 francs per person. In terms of storytelling, it’s less spectacular than the major international awards propelling a single name that everyone will soon know. But in view of the envelope, the number of people and disciplines concerned, these rewards are undoubtedly the best endowed in the world.
