EN FRANCAIS ICI15 to 16 June 2026, noon to noon
24h transmedia art performance installation
To honor the deceased
Sankt Paulus Cultural Church Basel
Honor your beloved deceased with this unique art ritual. Accept this invitation here:
About the Project
The Last Supper is a 24-hour transmedia art performance-installation that transforms the Sankt Paulus Kulturkirche in Basel into an immersive space for reflection and experience on death, memory, and transcendence beyond dogma and prejudice. This unique event is melting together visual art, sound, taste-art, video, and participatory rituals to create a collective and individual transmedia art experience transgressing life and death, time and space.
Video Performance Installation
The participants and visitors enter into an immersive transmedia environment of a tryptical non stop video projection on the 12meter long table centered on a stage like space defined by four large format rain - paintings by Nikunja. One painting is illuminated by the real-time digital video transmission of the CHRIST IN THE TOMB by Hans Holbein ( approx. 1521, Kunstmuseum Basel)
The tryptich videoprojection contains performances by Mauritian artist MANNEE.
Performance
Nikunja will direct a performance based on the act of serving, inspired by Butoh, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This performance presents fluid interqctions between the 7 intuitive stqtes of the passage from bodyness to bodyless reality, scenes inspired by various cultural practices around the process of dying and relation to the deceased. The 24h performance references the transforming experience of the Egyptian book of Death, COMING FORTH BY DAY, the rebirth of the sun and of each ones own Self. The act of serving as interaction between the physical and the spiritual and the interwaeving progressing art=media, will create the 24h performance arc in which each visitor and participant will find a unique personal performance experience.
The Sculptural Cake-Taste Art
By seven sculptural cakes as taste drops, the invited French pastry chief will communicate through unusual taste experiences 7 levels of transition of the process of dying, formulated in conjunction with the sound, lights and performances transcending singular authorities. For each participant performer these servings of taste drops will enable a unique art experience in and by the subtle experience of taste.
Nikunja's Interactive Matter
Emphasizing the concept of Interactive Matter, the transmedia art event will create a lminal space where all media and participants interact, allowing for a transposing experience of time and space. This interactive environment will enable participants to engage deeply with the art and each other, creating a unique and transformative physical and spiritual experience. Nikunja creates a tryptuch videoprojection, the space defining paintings and the transmedia formulation of Hans Holbeins CHRIST IN THE TOMB of 1521 melting paint, material and video-art.
Sound Experience by Uncoppen Saw
The international sound project UNCOPPENSAW with MANNEE (vocals, Mauritius), ALAIN PERRET (keyboards, fieldrecording, electronics, Geneva, CH), MATHIEU SYLVESTRE (looping, synthesizer, tape-machine, France) and NIKUNJA (Bengal dilruba, flutes, Basel, CH and France) comprovise a unique evolutive sound scape creating a 24h sound cloud inspired by the 7 levels of transition from life to death. At midnight the group will perform live as part of the installation performance.
How to Participate
Participants are invited to bring a framed photograph of a loved one who has passed away. During the event, you will place the photograph on a 12-meter-long white table and participate in a sensory ritual involving seven sculptural cakes, each representing a stage of spiritual transformation. You will also have the option to choose from water, milk, red wine, or rum as drinks.
What to Expect
The event includes:
- A 12-meter-long white table symbolizing the honoring of the deceased
- Seven sculptural cakes served as taste drops, each representing a stage of transformation from body to bodyless reality
- Triptych video projections by Nikunja and Mannee
- Live soundscapes by Uncoppensaw
- Real-time digital movie transmission of Holbein's painting "Christ in the Tomb" by Jean Marc Selva
- A midnight concert by Uncoppensaw
- Serving performance in 7 fluid tableax interacting with the public and the participants, inspired by the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Tibetan Book of the Dead and various world cultures.