Less than two-hundred kilometres separate Lausanne and Basel, but there’s a ditch in the way too. The Röstigraben – or Rösti-Ditch – lies between the Romandie (French-speaking) Canton of Vaud and the Deutschschweiz (German-speaking) Canton of Basel-Stadt. Even without a different language, Lausanne and Basel are quite distinct in terms of their cultural heritage and contemporary art scenes. Basel is long established as a major player with numerous significant institutions; Lausanne – a key node between connections further afield. But, while both cities are the second largest in their region, each can boast dynamic institutional landscapes and potential futures.

Lausanne’s Canton, Vaud, is wine country with terraced vineyards catching the sun above Lake Geneva’s shores. The city climbs a hillside. The art school, École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ÉCAL) is towards the top; northwest in a large knitwear factory colourfully converted by Bernard Tschumi Architects. ÉCAL is renowned for its professionalism, with world-famous design departments and impressive partnerships with high-profile companies. It has also produced artists such as Cyprien Gaillard and Adrien Missika. Its curriculum encompasses both fine art and photography degrees; the first students of the new MA in Photography, led by Milo Keller, start this semester.

The city is a mix of communities, with Francophone African diasporas as well as the many expats drawn to work in international organisations or multinational businesses headquartered there. In that vein the Musée de l’Élysée, which is dedicated to photography, is somewhat overshadowed by its neighbour, the Olympic Museum. Other art institutions include the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts (MCBA), while the gallery scene is relatively minor. A few off-spaces and galleries plough distinctive furrows. For example Abstract which, since 2009, has included exhibitions of private collections in its programme. Tunnel Tunnel (formerly Curtat Tunnel), a glass-walled space in the middle of a bustling junction, pairs visual art with discursive, oral forms. At Urgent Paradise, exhibiting artists were recruited by small advertisements for the first two years, with every work submitted shown. The art spaces best-known elsewhere in Switzerland are Tunnel Tunnel, Standard/Deluxe and Circuit, all of which are largely artist-run. Despite Lausanne’s proximity to Basel, Bern and Zurich, links tend to be forged either with other Romandie institutions or further afield in France and beyond.

Yet ground has been broken on a major development to fundamentally recalibrate the city’s landscape, one that should raise Lausanne’s national and international cultural profile. Plateforme10 unites five museums and foundations: the Musee de l’Élysée, Museum of contemporary design and applied arts (MUDAC), MCBA, Fondation Toms Pauli for textile art, and the Fondation Félix Vallotton. Currently scattered throughout the city, these will meet at a site by the central train station. MCBA will occupy one building, due to open in 2019, while the Musee de l’Élysée and MUDAC will share a home designed by Aires Mateus Architects, pending completion in 2020.

No such efforts for visibility need be made in Basel, though that did not stop the Kunstmuseum Basel opening a controversial extension this year. The city’s heritage of private support of the arts over the decades has fostered a wealth of municipal institutions; the Kunstmuseum and its offshoot the Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Museum of Contemporary Art) as well as the Kunsthalle are among them. The latter’s international importance can be demonstrated by its leadership. In 2013, it was led by Adam Szymczyk, who left the role to curate Documenta 14. He was replaced by Elena Filipovic. The best known of the private foundations are the Fondation Beyeler just outside Basel (in Weil am Rhein), and the behemoth Schaulager, capable of staging ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ shows for artists such as Steve McQueen (2013). Herzog and de Meuron architects started in Basel and are still based there – their Monopoly-house-like forms (including the Schaulager) are dotted across the landscape.

Then, of course, there is Art Basel. The art fair or, more precisely, the numerous art fairs and their exhibitors that occupy the city like a circus for one frenetic week each June. Unusually, Basel’s fair centre is right in the middle of things, so the local galleries actually do benefit from the incursion of collectors, dealers and artists.

Signalling the city’s current energy, Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie relocated from Zurich in 2013. This year, Jean-Claude Freymond-Guth made the same city swap, moving to an underground location close to the fair centre, and Alys Williams opened an outpost of the London gallery Vitrine. The young gallerists at Weiss Falk also set up shop.

The non-commercial scene is also vibrant. For example, SALTS situated across the Rhine from the Tinguely Museum (another private institution, funded by the pharmaceutical giant Roche), is run by Samuel Leuenberger and Elise Lammer. (Leuenberger is also curator of Art Basel’s Parcours programme.) The Ausstellungsraum Klingenthal is based in a former barracks in the centre of town, while Schwarzwaldallee lies further out in the shadow of the Novartis Campus, a prestige site dotted with star-architect designs and significant sculptural installations.

The energy carries through to the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) Art Institute, particularly since curator Chus Martinez became head in 2014. The Spanish dynamo took charge as the school moved into newly refurbished premises located on the Dreispitz creative campus. The site, owned by the Christoph Merian Foundation, still has industrial users, while also accommodating not only the art school and other art institutions, such as Haus der elektronischen Künste (HeK). The Schaulager is a few steps away, and the Kunsthaus Baselland is drumming up support to move from just outside the Basel-City Canton into a new building on the Dreispitz too. At the Art Institute, photography is embedded in fine art courses, though all Swiss art schools offer MA students the opportunity to attend seminars in other schools, so exchange between Lausanne and Basel is, in fact, quite feasible.

Rarely do city authorities, private donors and institutions cooperate in their support of the arts to the degree they do in Basel, though other cities – like Lausanne – clearly recognise the draw of impressive cultural venues. Basel and Lausanne will remain resolutely separated by the Röstigraben, and in doing so retain their individuality. In the Swiss Federation cantons are happy to be different together. It’s up to young actors in the art field to build their own bridges, and they have the tools they need at their disposal.