Summer Begins With A Bang; SBB Water Tap Fail; Art Basel Delivers

News For 21 June 2022

The early arrival of an early summer heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees centigrade will recede by the weekend. MeteoSwiss is predicting intermittent thunderstorms, hail and squalls of wind and rain for the next few days, especially in north-east Switzerland. The searing heat has left many areas in danger of wildfires according to the weather service and hopefully the coming rains will ease the dangerous situation.

**********

In April of this year, SBB installed a free water tap on platform 11/12 at the Basel train station as part of a pilot program.  Much to the chagrin of travellers this past week, they found that the tap had been turned off, just in time for an unusually early heatwave, and the arrival of tourists for the Art Basel art fair.  Adding insult to injury, the CEO of SBB - Vincent Ducrot, had not been notified of the discontinued service when he advised on social media that travelers seek out the free water fountains and to stay hydrated.  The media gaffe was quickly attended to by SBB spokesperson Martin Meier who explained that the project was always intended as a pilot program until an ideal location for the fountain could be found.  It was determined a few weeks ago, according to Meier, that the current location was causing too much traffic obstruction for boarding passengers on the platform.

**********

Organizers of the Art Basel art fair breathed a sigh of relief in its first official post-show communique on Monday.  The fair recorded gross attendance of 70,000 visitors, below the 2019 record-high of 93,000, but a strong showing nonetheless from the perspective of stakeholders.  Especially pleasing was reports from the paying gallerists that sales of art works have not slowed from pre-pandemic pace.  A giant sculpture of a spider by artist Louise Bourgeois was the highlight of the art show sales, fetching 40 million US dollars on the first preview day of the show.