The festival opens with Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, performed on two grand pianos by Denis Linnik and Claudio Martinez Mehner. A supporting program in collaboration with BirdLife and Basel blüht auf will explore the role of urban biodiversity.

What does it mean to keep bees in the heart of the city? And how does urban biodiversity support the survival of a bee colony? Urban beekeeper Andreas Seiler offers a glimpse into the fascinating microcosm of bees—right on our doorstep.

This guided tour introduces the basics of beekeeping, explores the complex structure of a bee colony, and shows how thoughtful urban design can promote biodiversity.
 
Limited capacity – registration via office@interfinity.ch

Voluntary contribution to cover costs

What if a great flood came—and a new world emerged?

This speculative question forms the core of After the Deluge, an exhibition that imagines a society preparing for radical climate change. Rather than focusing on current or short-term developments, the exhibition explores alternative futures and critically examines today’s approaches to urban ecology and our relationship with nature.

At the heart of the exhibition is the Vault—a participatory space where visitors are invited to contribute plants or symbolic objects they consider essential for a post-apocalyptic world. Which plants are worth saving? Which poems, songs, dreams, or scientific ideas? The Franck-Areal becomes a temporary Noah’s Ark, inviting us to imagine a new symbiosis between humanity and the planet.
Before entering the Vault, visitors pass through the Limbo, a space where a flooded vision of Basel offers a striking metaphor for environmental collapse.

Another highlight is the Dream Room, offering a hybrid (physical and digital) immersion into a post-apocalyptic future. It introduces the idea of the Symbiocene—a new era in which humans reintegrate into natural systems on a technological, social, and emotional level.

In the Statement Room, visitors can book timeslots to contribute intangible works—stories, poems, songs, or personal reflections. Contributions can be live performances or digital media projections; a Fasnacht march or a men’s choir performance is just as welcome as a video or audio submission. The exhibition is accompanied by expert talks and panel discussions from science and industry (see full program here). Sound installations, video works, and live performances round out an immersive, multi-sensory experience.

After the Deluge is developed in collaboration with GIGA Design Milan, Alessandra Chiarelli, and Barbara Maggio.
 
Become part of the exhibition: bring your plants or symbolic objects.

Collection dates:

23–25 September & 9–10 October (10:00–11:30)

Daily from 15 to 30 October 2025 (09:30–11:00)

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In collaboration with Arts & Sciences Exhibitions.

Fritz Hauser’s Vier Wege in die Stille makes the acoustic richness—and increasing fragility—of our natural world perceptible. In four distinct performances with 14 percussionists, intricate soundscapes emerge, gradually dissolving into silence.
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The audience is invited to experience the delicate beauty of nature through sound. Subtle lighting and the soaring ceilings of the former chicory silo amplify the atmosphere, as hundreds of sonic textures fill the space.
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Created specifically for Interfinity, this work offers a unique and immersive reflection on biodiversity. Each of the four concerts presents its own character and sonic variation.

Chief City Gardener Emanuel Trueb shares insights from 30 years of experience in urban greening and biodiversity. He discusses the challenges and opportunities of integrating ecology into city planning, and sheds light on the complex decisions behind sustainable urban development.
 
Registration via office@interfinity.ch

Pro Natura invites you on a guided walk through selected urban areas, offering insights into the diverse flora and fauna of the city.
Meeting point: Voltahalle

A city tour of St. Johann that weaves together natural history, poetry, and sound. Discover urban nature with Pro Natura Basel (Daniel Rüetschi), experience it through sound with Philippe Koerper, and through words with Victor Saudan.

Registration via office@interfinity.ch

Voluntary contribution to cover costs

This high-caliber panel focuses on sustainable urban development and greening. Leading experts will discuss the opportunities and challenges of urban ecology:
 

• Michael Hug (Grand Council of Basel-Stadt, President of the Building and Spatial Planning Commission)

• Barbara Buser (circulation architect)

• Regula Lüscher (former Senate Building Director, Berlin)

• Bettina Hamel (Christoph Merian Foundation)

• Patrice Gruner (architect)
   

Registration via office@interfinity.ch

A biodiverse dinner at the charming Restaurant Rhyschänzli brings together sustainable ingredients from urban and regional sources. Urban mushrooms and fresh herbs from city gardens meet vegetables from local organic farms, with honey from urban beekeeping rounding out the flavors. Biodiverse wines complement the menu, reflecting the philosophy of environmentally conscious cuisine.
Throughout the evening, Cyril Lang shares insights into the menu’s concept and the restaurant’s sustainable approach.

Four-course menu (with meat and/or vegetarian options)

CHF 129 per person, including wine, water, and coffee

Private event – registration via office@interfinity.ch (payment on site)

The centerpiece of this special edition is the opera Like Flesh by Sivan Eldar (libretto: Cordelia Lynn). The work explores the ecological and emotional consequences of life in densely built cities—and how nature might guide us toward more sustainable, liveable urban spaces.
 
At the heart of the opera is a woman who slowly transforms into a tree. As her body and rhythms align with the natural world, she becomes increasingly estranged from the human pace of life—eventually losing the ability to communicate with others.

The leading roles are sung by Maria Riccarda Wesseling, William Dazeley, and Juliette Allen, joined by the choir Voces Suaves. The production is directed and designed by Dominique Pitoiset and Luca Scarzella, whose bold staging features a real tree trunk supplied by the Basel City Gardening.
 
Developed in close collaboration with biologists, botanists, urban ecologists, and institutions such as ETH Zurich, the University of Basel, NCCR Microbiomes, and IRCAM Centre Pompidou, the opera includes short scientific intermezzi. These offer insight into urban development, forest ecosystems, microbiomes, and how biodiversity and biophilic architecture can shape resilient cities.

The production is conducted by Georg Köhler.
 
Following the premiere, a public aperitif (included in the ticket) invites audience members to meet with scientists and experts—from Pro Natura, BirdLife, ETH Zurich, the University of Basel, and the circular economy—for informal exchange.

The premiere will be opened with a welcome address by government councillor Esther Keller.