Eddie Hara – Between zen & punk
Valérie Ziegler, nuage
If you look at his art and portraits of him, you could expect to meet a punk. The pierced ears, the colourful clothing and the round Corbusier glasses, these are all typical of Eddie Hara.
During our visit, however, it is CocoRosie’s latest album that is coming out of his speakers. The melancholic sounds of the American sister duo, combined with Eddie’s brush strokes, seem almost meditative. The almost 70-year-old truly exudes a contagious calm, and not just when he paints.
Eddie Hara in his workshop © Basel Tourismus, Oz Jacob Tabib
© Basel Tourismus, Oz Jacob Tabib
The Basel artist with Indonesian roots is best known for his huge murals. The longest is over 70 metres long and can be found in the Erlenmatt district.
In addition to Art Jakarta, for which he is currently working, he also regularly exhibits at Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Singapore. And of course, in Basel, in the Artstübli, for example.
Eddie Hara is known for his murals. © Basel Tourismus, Oz Jacob Tabib
Riots & punk
Jakarta is important to Eddie Hara for two reasons: because he grew up in the Indonesian city of Salatiga, in Java.
And he also completed his training at the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta. He later moved to the Academy of Art and Design – Enschede (AKI) in the Netherlands. However, this was just a stop off on Eddie’s colourful journey. In 1991 he tried to make it in Los Angeles – but did not last five months. “It was long enough to get married though”, he jokes. Together with his wife, he moved back to Indonesia, where his individual art style became more and more cemented. Eddie became increasingly critical of social and political issues: “The riots in LA were behind me”, looking back, “For the first time in my life, I felt scared when I was on the streets alone.
LA claims that it is multicultural. Yet, the mood in the nineties was very tense. And between all migrant groups.”
«I was the first punk on my campus.» Eddie Hara
The music also shaped his artistic vision: “I was the first punk on my campus.” It’s true! He discovered his artistic vein at the age of 14.
Back then, alongside his own notebook, which he has carried with him ever since, he also sketched on those of his fellow students. “Some of them were really angry. Now, they may have been happy, had they kept the piece”, he jokes.
Standing against the tide
Eddie Hara likes to buck the trend with his work. © Basel Tourismus, Oz Jacob Tabib
His choice of career didn’t go down too well with his father, a former military officer, for whom discipline always had the top priority: “Even my two brothers saw art as no more than a diversion. At least until they both went bankrupt and pumped me for money.”
No wonder Eddie is so socially critical. “Maybe, the fact that I was the black sheep of the family motivated me to swim against the tide.”
«Maybe, the fact that I was the black sheep of the family motivated me to swim against the tide.» Eddie Hara
The death of his father also pushed him to be successful.
While following Covid he addressed loneliness, nowadays he is particularly inspired by the phenomenon of Generation Z: “Young people have so many opportunities that many have forgotten how to focus”, he says, “The choice is simply too big; how do you know what you want, who you want to be? And why should you still want to know, if you can be this today and something else tomorrow?” he muses. “Then add the 1,001 mental issues … I mean: come on! Go out, debate and play with your neighbours; with your family, with your friends, move your butt away from the computer – live life and get something out of it!”
Of course, these aspects have an inspiring effect on him as an artist too: “Even if I make money with it, I always ask myself, what is the purpose of my work and what do I want to say.”
You can find a few of the answers when you visit the mural in Erlenmatt.
“To be commissioned by the city is not only a great honour, but also a challenge. But this feeling didn’t inhibit me, on the contrary, it drove me to be even better. It was also wonderful to have neighbours chatting with me and dropping off coffee, and to see kids sitting down on the ground to paint with me.”
Nostalgia with Tinguely
He came to Basel for the first time in 1984. Only for a visit back then. “I still remember how much the Tinguely Fountain on Theaterplatz fascinated me”, he recalls as he bites into his feta spinach Turkish flatbread with relish in the newly opened Bon Goût on Feldbergstrasse.
“Strong emotions still surface today when I visit it. Besides, the fountain also embodies what I want to achieve: to create art for society. So that it can be enjoyed by everyone who wants to. Even those who can’t afford to visit a museum.”
Tinguely Fountain © Basel Tourismus
Tinguely Fountain © Theater Basel
In 1996, Eddie was invited to Basel by the Christoph Merian Foundation on their 6-month international studio exchange programme, where he crossed paths again with his current wife Catherine, whom he knew from an Indonesia trip, 11 years earlier. They fell in love. “I decided to move to Switzerland in 1997 and to marry her.”
Even if the man who wakes up at 5 am at the latest and prepares coffee for Catherine every day is tired in the evening, even if his art is becoming even more direct, more candid with age: “I still feel young at heart!” Which does not mean that he wants to stay young at any cost: “I’m just enjoying life! I want to have fun, drink beer and go to heavy metal concerts.” (laughs)
«I still feel young at heart!» Eddie Hara
He particularly enjoys going to small clubs, such as Kaserne Basel, Schall und Rauch, or to Quarterdeck. His favourite Basel band? Lombego Surfers. “Because of the size of Basel, the nightlife here is quite lively! I really appreciate that the young scene remains so progressive and fresh.”
He also sees this movement in the younger generation of the art scene. “They travel more, get more ideas. So there is still hope for Generation Z”, winks Eddie behind his round glasses.
Eddie 2025 in Basel
Eddie Hara is delighted to be doing a collab with the fashion label Tarzan, which is launching a collection featuring his designs this summer.In June, he is part of a group exhibition at the Eleven Ten Studio in Basel. He also has great admiration for his local artist colleagues Ado & Comenius, who are showing a solo exhibition of Eddie’s works in their gallery on Spalenberg in the autumn.
Eddie Hara | ArtstübliCooperation with Basel Happens
Would you like to meet more exciting personalities of Basel? On the Instagram channel “Basel Happens”, our journalist Valérie Ziegler has been showcasing her beloved city since 2017, together with the local photographer Oz J Tabib. Discover inspiring and unique places, people, and projects!
