Reference Festival Returns with “Freie Kunst” During Art Basel Paris

Reference Studios has announced the 2026 edition of Reference Festival, running from 22 to 25 October during Art Basel Paris. Titled Freie Kunst , the iteration expands the gathering into a multi-city festival, moving from Berlin to Paris and staging a platform for dialogue and community during one of the most concentrated weeks of collector and creative industry attention in the city.

The German term, meaning “free art,” is open to interpretation, traditionally separating applied arts from works made with no functional purpose. This edition expands the term to embody an experimental approach to creative production and the exchange of ideas. “ Freie Kunst convenes leading figures from art, fashion, music, technology, and other disciplines to consider the conjunction of freedom and creativity today ,” says Reference Studios founder Mumi Haiati. “ This is what our studio has been about since day one, and now we are bringing the entire scope of our network together for this meeting of minds around the idea of radical and unhinged exchange of ideas. ”

The concept premiered in Berlin with an announcement during Berlin Art Week in September, in conjunction with the opening of Maurizio Cattelan’s solo exhibition at the Neue Nationalgalerie, at Watergate club, with a pop-up from Paris nightlife hub Silencio. In Paris, the centre of programming will be the Cité de la Mode et du Design, home of FTVR, Silencio’s sister club and founder Arnaud Frisch’s latest project on the banks of the Seine, hosting experiential events, installations, and live discussions. Intimate presentations and think tank-style workshops will take place at a private salon on the Left Bank.

Participants include Richie Hawtin, Eartheater, Bill Kouligas, Donna Huanca, Julian Charrière, Dozie Kanu, Bjarne Melgaard, Kolya Nemoi, Shayne Oliver, design studio Bocci, Bettina Milz from the forthcoming Pina Bausch Centre, Hans Ulrich Obrist and the Brutally Early Club, the Florentina Holzinger performance collective, Katja Wik, Klaus Biesenbach, and more.