The MS Evolutie will stop in Maastricht on the 2nd and 3rd of August! AHOY! is devoted to taking the art of Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), one of the greatest and most innovative Swiss artists of the twentieth century, to the people in a specially converted barge.

Museum Tinguely embarks on a special journey

This summer Museum Tinguely will celebrate its 25th anniversary by weighing anchor and embarking on a very special journey. «Museum Tinguely AHOY!» is devoted to taking the art of Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), one of the greatest and most innovative Swiss artists of the twentieth century, to the people in a specially converted barge. Its travel stops will be places of relevance to Tinguely's artistic career, from Paris to Antwerp and Amsterdam, and from there upriver through the urban centres of the Rhine-Ruhr region and back to Basel. First stop for the barge will be Paris, on 17 July, followed by eleven weeks spent chugging through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany before returning to Basel on 24 September 2021. Besides having an exhibition installed inside the hull, the floating museum will also feature a spectacular fountain sculpture on deck. The itinerary envisages twelve stops, at each of which there will be a two-day programme of events staged in collaboration with local partner institutions and comprising not only the onboard exhibition, but also various educational activities and performances by contemporary artists. The route alone attests to how internationally-minded the artist was, even in the mid-1950s, and tells of the close ties that Museum Tinguely still cultivates with other institutions in other countries. The travelling venue for «Museum Tinguely AHOY!» is the MS Evolutie, a 40-metre-long barge that has been converted especially for the occasion.

25 Years of Moving Art

For twenty-five years Museum Tinguely has been inviting people to discover art and culture with all the senses, to be surprised and delighted by many experimental projects and collaborations, and to savour a uniquely beautiful location on the banks of the River Rhine. It welcomes both families and art experts and offers scope for both silent contemplation and the hands-on, interactive experience of art.

The museum has hosted over 110 exhibitions since it first opened in 1996. While many of these have been about Jean Tinguely and his circle, other socially relevant themes and contemporary art have been just as important, always embedded in the permanent retrospective of Tinguely himself, who with his kinetic works of art counts among the greatest artistic pioneers of the post-1950 era. Our programme of events ranging from classical concerts to DJ sets, Family Sundays to barrier-free tours, workshops for schools and young adults to get-togethers with seniors further broadens our spectrum in terms of both content and the diverse audiences we can welcome to our institution.