Reference Festival to Host ‘Freie Kunst’ Event at Art Basel Paris

Berlin-born Reference Festival is heading to the French capital this year with an event dubbed “Freie Kunst” from Oct. 22 to 25, coinciding with Art Basel Paris, a growing presence on the international cultural circuit.

The event will feature a mix of participants from art, fashion, music, technology and other disciplines around the themes of freedom and creativity, said Mumi Haiati, founder of the event’s organiser, communications agency Reference Studios.

Talks, exhibits and workshops will be held in Paris, ranging from nightclubs to public forums, in what Haiati described as a “meeting of minds around the idea of radical and unhinged exchange of ideas.”

Haiati’s focus on Paris comes as his agency deepens its ties in the city. The influential public relations executive recently renovated a former post office in the 7th arrondissement to serve as Reference’s showroom along with an apartment serving as a venue for “salons.”

Participants of “Freie Kunst” will include artists Donna Huanca, Julian Charrière, Dozie Kanu, Bjarne Melgaard and Kolya Nemoi as well as fashion designer Shayne Oliver, the Canadian design studio Bocci, the Pina Bausch Centre, photographer Katia Wik; and curators and museum directors Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Reference Festival is a Berlin-born event that launched in 2019 with a 24-hour festival combining a mix of fashion, art and music performances and installations.

Learn more:

Mumi Haiati’s Reference Studios Opens Paris Outpost

The former club kid became a fashion PR force in Berlin before branching out to Milan. Now he’s taking his culture-led, cross-disciplinary approach to fashion’s biggest capital.