Home Is a Foreign Place, Sandra Knecht at KBH.G

Exhibition photography: Samuel Spreyz
Photography: Lukas Wassmann

Swiss artist Sandra Knecht (*1968, Zurich) has spent decades exploring the possible meaning(s) of “Heimat” in her life. For her, home is not a fixed or static place but a fluid and ever-evolving idea—one that must be constantly renegotiated, both individually and collectively. Her exhibition ‘Home Is a Foreign Place’ at Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger (KBH.G) reflects on the ways home is shaped by geography, history, identity, and personal experience, revealing how deeply it may impact our human condition.

At a time when some of us are choosing a return to (or exploring of) country life—not out of nostalgia, but as a way of living and regenerating creative ideas—Knecht seems to embody this shift. In her own rural space in Buus (BL), she evolves between local agriculture, cooking, fermenting, and animal husbandry as forms of artistic and philosophical inquiry. Her practice—intentionally or not—challenges urban norms, embracing nature quality and speed as integral elements of artistic creation and self-reinvention.

Novembre: Liquid?

Sandra: Life. 

N: Roof?

S: Protection. 

N: Ephemeral?

S: Everything. 

N: Belonging?

S: Peace.

N: Walls?

S: Borders. 

N: Feeling?

S: Happiness.

N: Stool?

S: Pause.

N: Place?

S: Presence.

N: Transformation?

S: Being. 

N: Luggage?

S: Always with you.

N: Negotiation?

S: Necessity.

N: Roots?

S: Favourites. 

N: Alienation?

S: Possibility. 

N: Door?

S: Decision.

N: Map?

S: Place.

N: Cap?

S: Security.