Press releases

Last year's publication of the Final Report of the Organizational Development of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH conducted by Metrum Management GmbH included an opportunity to comment on the five central recommendations. Between December 21, 2023 and January 31, 2024 the public was invited to give their digital feedback.

The commenting procedure is now closed and subject to an evaluation led by Prof. Dr. Joanna Ozga (Professor of International Business Management at Fulda University of Applied Sciences) and her Research Assistant, Mira Bickert.

documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and its shareholders are interested in considering constructive comments, additions, and suggestions. The final evaluation and decision on what will be included in the Organizational Development lies with the bodies of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH.

The complete Final Report can still be viewed by the public in German and English: Final Report

Background
In the wake of the anti-Semitism incidents at documenta 15, the shareholders, the City of Kassel, and the State of Hesse commissioned a review and analysis by an expert team led by Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff and, based on their final report, initiated a comprehensive, externally supervised organizational development report for the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and its committee structures that started in May 2023. The management consultant Metrum Unternehmensberatung commissioned with this review has made recommendations in its final report – based on around 50 background interviews, workshops, and focus groups as well as various documents. These relate to the governance structure as well as process organization and organizational structure. The aim of the organizational development is to establish effective measures against anti-Semitism and other forms of group-specific hatred while fully protecting artistic freedom, as well as to increase the crisis resilience and future viability of the non-profit documenta und Museum Fridericianum GmbH.

The key recommendations are as follows:

1. Retention of the Finding Committee with adjustments (page 22)
There should continue to be a Finding Committee for each documenta exhibition, which is appointed by the Supervisory Board on the proposal of the Management of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. This committee should no longer spill over into the governance of the exhibition and the process should be subject to just two optimizations: It should be set out in writing and the Management should commit to ensuring maximum diversity in its remit.

2. Development of two Codes of Conduct for documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and the Artistic Direction (page 24) The Code of Conduct of the gGmbH should describe the basic values guiding all actions of the gGmbH. One focus should be to "make it clear that it takes an unambiguous stance against anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of discrimination and will also use its influence to achieve this goal while respecting artistic freedom". The Code of Conduct of the Artistic Direction should describe the basic values of the Artistic Direction and contain passages that illustrate how it is ensured the exhibition curated by the Artistic Direction does not violate human dignity. Both Codes of Conduct should be treated as declarations of intent on an equal footing and oblige those involved to exchange views on the Codes of Conduct at an early stage in order to identify any differences and, where possible, to address potential conflicts in a productive manner. In accordance with Germany’s constitution or the German Basic Law, this structured approach is intended to take into account the balance between artistic freedom on the one hand and the duty of public cultural administration to avoid discrimination on the other.

3. Optimization of the structure of the Supervisory Board and establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board (page 27) The main responsibility for supervision is generally assumed by the Supervisory Board, while the Shareholders’ Assembly is generally limited to a few central tasks. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board will be reduced to five to nine members, who (with the exception of two) will be appointed equally by the two shareholders. The Federal Government is given a voting seat on the Supervisory Board and appoints the chair of the Scientific Advisory Board who will also be a member of the Supervisory Board. The Scientific Advisory Board to be established should comprise six or nine members from the artistic-curatorial field and advise the Management and the Supervisory Board.

4. Clarification of the tasks of the Management Board and Artistic Direction (page 29) The division of responsibilities between the Management and Artistic Direction should be regulated in a binding set of Rules of Procedure for the Management. Essentially, this division should make it clear that the Management does not take on any curatorial tasks, but bears overall responsibility for strategic, organizational, and financial issues, is responsible for protecting the values formulated in a Code of Conduct of the gGmbH, and represents these in dialogue with the Artistic Direction. If necessary, in extreme cases this can also mean the Management has the responsibility to distance itself from some artistic content without intervening in it itself.

5. Introduction of a Management Board (page 39) To ensure effective leadership and very good internal communication, in line with the new Organizational Chart, a Management Board for the gGmbH should be established. The Heads and Directors as well as the Management and Artistic Directions should be represented on the Management Board of the gGmbH.

Please finde here the Final Report of the Organizational Development of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH

Download Final Report of the Organizational Development of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH.

Press Release: Final Report of the Organizational Development of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH now available – with a focus on effective measures against anti-Semitism and other forms of group-specific hatred while fully protecting artistic freedom

In the wake of the anti-Semitism incidents at documenta 15, the shareholders, the City of Kassel, and the State of Hesse commissioned a review and analysis by an expert team led by Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff and, based on their final report, initiated a comprehensive, externally supervised organizational development report for the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and its committee structures that started in May 2023.The results of the review are now available.

The management consultant Metrum Unternehmensberatung commissioned with this review has made recommendations in its final report – based on around 50 background interviews, workshops, and focus groups as well as various documents. These relate to the governance structure as well as process organization and organizational structure. The aim of the organizational development is to establish effective measures against anti-Semitism and other forms of group-specific hatred while fully protecting artistic freedom, as well as to increase the crisis resilience and future viability of the non-profit documenta und Museum Fridericianum GmbH.

After today's Supervisory Board meeting, the full final report will be publicly available in German and English.

The key recommendations are as follows:

1. Retention of the Finding Committee with adjustments (page 22)
There should continue to be a Finding Committee for each documenta exhibition, which is appointed by the Supervisory Board on the proposal of the Management of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. This committee should no longer spill over into the governance of the exhibition and the process should be subject to just two optimizations: It should be set out in writing and the Management should commit to ensuring maximum diversity in its remit.

2. Development of two Codes of Conduct for documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and the Artistic Direction (page 24)
The Code of Conduct of the gGmbH should describe the basic values guiding all actions of the gGmbH. One focus should be to "make it clear that it takes an unambiguous stance against anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of discrimination and will also use its influence to achieve this goal while respecting artistic freedom". The Code of Conduct of the Artistic Direction should describe the basic values of the Artistic Direction and contain passages that illustrate how it is ensured the exhibition curated by the Artistic Direction does not violate human dignity. Both Codes of Conduct should be treated as declarations of intent on an equal footing and oblige those involved to exchange views on the Codes of Conduct at an early stage in order to identify any differences and, where possible, to address potential conflicts in a productive manner. In accordance with Germany’s constitution or the German Basic Law, this structured approach is intended to take into account the balance between artistic freedom on the one hand and the duty of public cultural administration to avoid discrimination on the other.

3. Optimization of the structure of the Supervisory Board and establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board (page 27)
The main responsibility for supervision is generally assumed by the Supervisory Board, while the Shareholders’ Assembly is generally limited to a few central tasks. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board will be reduced to five to nine members, who (with the exception of two) will be appointed equally by the two shareholders. The Federal Government is given a voting seat on the Supervisory Board and appoints the chair of the Scientific Advisory Board who will also be a member of the Supervisory Board. The Scientific Advisory Board to be established should comprise six or nine members from the artistic-curatorial field and advise the Management and the Supervisory Board.

4. Clarification of the tasks of the Management Board and Artistic Direction (page 29)
The division of responsibilities between the Management and Artistic Direction should be regulated in a binding set of Rules of Procedure for the Management. Essentially, this division should make it clear that the Management does not take on any curatorial tasks, but bears overall responsibility for strategic, organizational, and financial issues, is responsible for protecting the values formulated in a Code of Conduct of the gGmbH, and represents these in dialogue with the Artistic Direction. If necessary, in extreme cases this can also mean the Management has the responsibility to distance itself from some artistic content without intervening in it itself.

5. Introduction of a Management Board (page 39)
To ensure effective leadership and very good internal communication, in line with the new Organizational Chart, a Management Board for the gGmbH should be established. The Heads and Directors as well as the Management and Artistic Directions should be represented on the Management Board of the gGmbH.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and Lord Mayor of the City of Kassel, Sven Schoeller, states: "The events and developments surrounding the emergence of anti-Semitic content, works, and stances at documenta 15 have shown that the organization of the world's most important exhibition of contemporary art did not have the appropriate instruments, structures, and procedures in place to adequately address the situation. It is of central importance for the future of documenta to regain the trust that has been lost as a result of this and following the resignation of the Finding Committee for the Artistic Direction of documenta 16. The responsible bodies at documenta will therefore take the utmost care to ensure that a clear organizational framework is established for future exhibitions that unequivocally guarantees artistic freedom for the Board of Trustees and artists and, at the same time, implements effective and efficient measures to combat anti-Semitism. The final report on organizational development provides an excellent basis for this. As soon as documenta's bodies have made a final decision on the recommendations of the Organizational Review, the search process for an Artistic Direction will be restarted. This is planned for the first quarter of 2024"

Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board and Hessian Minister for Science and Art, Angela Dorn, emphasizes: "As shareholders, we have pledged to learn real lessons from the anti-Semitic misconduct at documenta 15. It has become clear how important it was to undertake a comprehensive and self-critical analysis of responsibilities and structures. With these recommendations, we have created a good basis for safeguarding the unique character of documenta and at the same time for instituting its further structural development. Our main goal is to ensure that anti-Semitic incidents do not happen again. It is essential for the future of documenta that documenta 16 is not overshadowed by documenta 15."

Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Andreas Hoffmann, adds: "Having worked intensively on organizational development from day one of my work for documenta, I am delighted to be able to share the results with the public. Anyone who studies the report will realize that it aims to implement as effective measures against anti-Semitism and other forms of group-specific hatred as it does to ensure that artistic freedom remains unconditionally and fully protected."

The final report by Metrum Managementberatung GmbH is available in German and English here.

The publication is also accompanied by an opportunity for interested members of the public to comment on the key recommendations. These were presented to the Supervisory Board today for information and have not yet been submitted for resolution. A corresponding platform, accessible via the website www.documenta.de, makes it possible to lodge comments on the five key recommendations for a period of just over one month from Thursday, December 21, 2023 (until January 31, 2024). documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and its shareholders are interested in considering constructive comments, additions, and suggestions. The final decision on what will be incorporated into the organizational development process lies with the bodies of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH.

In view of the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and the growing anti-Semitism in Germany as well as the polarized debates surrounding it, the work process of the Finding Committee for the Artistic Direction of documenta 16 has come under mounting pressure in recent weeks. Following the resignations of Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger and Ranjit Hoskoté from the Finding Committee, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, its partners, and the remaining members of the documenta 16 Finding Committee have engaged in intense discussions about the possible consequences for the ongoing selection process. The management considered suspending the selection process due to the special global situation following Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel. Continuing the process with just the remaining members of the Finding Committee was also considered, as was the reappointment of two new members to the Finding Committee during the current process, and indeed the complete relaunch of the entire selection process.

It was of pivotal importance for documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH to show respect for the position of the remaining members of the Finding Committee. Simon Njami, Gong Yan, Kathrin Rhomberg, and María Inés Rodríguez ultimately decided, in what were extremely difficult deliberations, that they no longer wished to be a part of the selection process. This Thursday evening, November 16, 2023, they announced their resignation from the committee to the Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH respects this decision and thanks all those involved for their dedication. It will now propose to the Supervisory Board that the selection process for documenta 16 be entirely restructured. As regards the timing, it will propose that the organizational review should first be fully completed with a resolution by the Supervisory Board on the changed structures before the process can commence afresh.


Documenta Resignation Letter: Simon Njami, Gong Yan, Kathrin Rhomberg, and María Inés Rodríguez

Last Friday, the Israeli artist, philosopher, psychoanalyst, and theorist Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger resigned from the six-member committee entrusted with selecting the Artistic Direction of the 16th edition (2027) of documenta.

In a letter to all those involved, Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger cites the current situation in the Middle East as the reason for her decision. In her resignation letter, she stresses her decision is in no way connected to the current debate surrounding Ranjit Hoskoté. Instead, she refers to the difficulties she faces in contributing to the work of the Finding Committee after the events of October 7, 2023 and the start of Hamas' terrorism in Israel. Against this backdrop, she had previously requested an interruption to the selection process, which – after discussions with all members of the Finding Committee and the other stakeholders – was not instituted at the time given the very advanced stage of the selection process. Immediately after her resignation, the gGmbH made further proposals for talks.

Andreas Hoffmann, Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, emphasizes: "After receiving Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger's letter, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH tried to get in touch to explore the possibility of the artist returning to the Finding Committee. A few hours later, however, her decision became public. We fully understand her firm decision and reasoning and wish to express our sincere sympathy. We thank Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger for her past willingness to stand by us in these difficult times and respect her decision to withdraw from the process in light of the realities of terror in Israel and the ensuing challenges and questions."

What this development means for the further process with regard to the scheduling and composition of the Finding Committee is currently the subject of intense discussions between the shareholders, the Supervisory Board, the non-profit GmbH, and those involved in the Finding Committee.

Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger's Letter of Resignation (Friday, November 10, 2023)

"Dear colleagues,

I hereby formally resign from the Finding Committee of documenta 16, and hope and wish that you will choose together the best candidate.

Recently in two emails to all of you, I asked that we slow down the process. The art-world as we imagined it has collapsed and is now fragmented, I wrote, and added: What can art bring to our dark ages? The question of the meaning of being human is tightly related to the meaning of art. Artists are not here to decorate politics. Art's function is not to aestheticise political ideas (W. Benjamin), I wrote, and then quoted Paul Celan, and continued with these lines from the Psalms that express my anguish,

Abyss to abyss call.

And my heart wound-space.

Words and metaphors do not bleed, I wrote, but their effect can cause bleeding.

The situation in the Middle East is tragic from all angles. Innocent civilians suffered and died, and my heart cries for each dead on all sides. Every life is precious. I shared with you my incapacity to be effective on the last series of meetings (12-13 Oct), which took place even though I couldn't arrive in person, in Germany, because you informed me that my flights were cancelled, and in which I had to participate in zoom, paralyzed under rockets, with the details of the massacre committed by the Hamas on Israeli civilians, women and babies, and of the kidnapping of children and babies and civilians were being streamed on my screen during our lunch and coffee breaks, just few days after the massacre by Hamas that began the tragic war took place.

We have time – I wrote – we can change the procedure, change the timetable, allow sorrow and agony unfold. We can take time, I suggested,

Time to lament, Kaddish.

Time to lament, Stabat mater dolorosa O quam tristis et afflícta fuit illa benedícta, mater. Time to pause, think-feel and reorient ourselves towards new visions and think if we can address the dimension of art, I wrote.

The idea to slow down and delay the next meeting was rejected by Andreas for different procedural considerations that I of course fully understand.

The future documenta was on my mind endlessly during the last 7 months. We all worked hard. Unfortunately, today, I feel that I can not continue to contribute to the process anymore."

Yesterday, Sunday, the writer, cultural theorist, art critic, and curator Ranjit Hoskoté resigned from the original six-member committee entrusted with selecting the Artistic Direction of the 16th edition of documenta (2027). Ranjit Hoskoté had come under fire in recent days for having signed the Statement against consulate general of Israel, Mumbai's event on Hindutva and Zionism (dated August 26, 2019) and its BDS connections and anti-Semitic content.

Ranjit Hoskoté subsequently made it clear to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH in intensive discussions that he rejects the aims of BDS and does not support the movement. Furthermore, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH had asked him to comment on the content of the statement, which the gGmbH considered to be clearly anti-Semitic, and his position on this, with the expectation that he would distance himself unequivocally from his signature and the anti-Semitic content of the statement. This was followed by Ranjit Hoskoté's letter in which he declared his resignation.

Andreas Hoffmann, Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, emphasizes: "I would like to thank Ranjit Hoskoté for his willingness to stand by us in these difficult times and believe that his decision to resign is a logical and respectable one. The current developments surrounding the documenta 16 Finding Committee show once again how long the road to a consistent reappraisal of documenta 15 still is. We need to consistently distance ourselves from all forms of anti-Semitism. The events of summer 2022 must not be repeated. This is the only way to achieve a genuine new beginning after the events of documenta fifteen."

What this development means for the further process with regard to the scheduling and composition of the Finding Committee is currently the subject of intense discussions between the shareholders, the Supervisory Board, the non-profit GmbH, and those involved in the Finding Committee.

Ranjit Hoskoté's Letter of Resignation (Sunday, November 12, 2023)

"Dear Andreas,

These last few days have been among the most deeply distressing days of my life. The monstrous charge of anti-Semitism has been brought against my name in Germany, a country I have regarded with love and admiration, and to whose cultural institutions and intellectual life I have contributed for several decades, as a writer, curator and cultural theorist. Members of the German commentariat who have no acquaintance with my life and work have judged, denounced and stigmatised me on the basis of a single signature on a petition, taken out of its context and not approached in the spirit of reason. I have been written about with harshness and condescension, and none of my detractors has thought it important to ask me for my point of view. I feel, strongly, that I have been subjected to the proceedings of a kangaroo court.

It is clear to me that there is no room, in this toxic atmosphere, for a nuanced discussion of the issues at stake. And now – in what strikes me as a doomed attempt to save a situation that is beyond saving – I am being asked to accept a sweeping and untenable definition of anti-Semitism that conflates the Jewish people with the Israeli state; and that, correspondingly, misrepresents any expression of sympathy with the Palestinian people as support for Hamas.

My conscience does not permit me to accept this sweeping definition and these strictures on human empathy. Such a definition and such strictures have been opposed by prominent Jewish thinkers such as the philosopher Omri Boehm, the historian Moshe Zimmermann, the columnist Gideon Levy, the philosopher Michael Marder and many, many others, who reject the equation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. A system that insists on such a definition and such strictures – and which chooses to ignore both criticality and compassion – is a system that has lost its moral compass. I say this with the greatest sadness.

It pains me to say that such circumstances negate Documenta’s historic openness to a diversity of positions and its capacity for sustaining the life of the imagination in a supportive environment. I greatly fear that these circumstances will compromise the generosity of spirit and the willingness to engage in dialogue, which have long been sterling features of Germany’s contribution to global cultural politics.

As such, I find myself unable to perform my duties towards Documenta, an institution for which I have had great affection and which I have known well for more than twenty years, ever since Okwui Enwezor invited me to chair a panel at the Delhi platform of Documenta 11 in May 2001. It has been an honour to serve on the Finding Committee for Documenta 16, and it has been a pleasure to get to know you and work with you. With much regret, I must offer you my resignation and step down from the Finding Committee.

*

As I leave, you will agree that it is only fair that I should be permitted to state my side of this case, for the record. I would like to do this, as follows:

1. I wish to re-state that I have the highest regard for the Jewish people, and have always had the deepest empathy with their historic sufferings and admiration for their glorious cultural achievements. This is evident in my essays, my lectures, and my books. I am appalled by the accusation that I am anti-Semitic, and the suggestion that I am in need of instruction on this sensitive subject. Simple biographical factors render this accusation absurd. I was brought up in a pluralist family, which took pride in the diversity of India, including the presence, among us, of three distinct Jewish communities – the Bene Israel, the Cochini Jews, and the Baghdadi Jews – for centuries. My first mentor and dear friend, the great Indian poet and art critic Nissim Ezekiel, was a member of the Bene Israel community. Indeed, one of my great-aunts, Kitty Shiva Rao, was born Kitty Verständig in a Viennese Jewish family; she made her home in a newly independent India, applying her knowledge of the Holocaust to healing a young country that had been born amidst the horrors of the Partition. The Shoah is not external to me; it is one of the strands in my own family history.

2. Putting aside biographical factors, I wish to place on record, also, that I have publicly opposed the intellectual and cultural boycott of Israel – on the grounds that this will further weaken and isolate our liberal, progressive, critical and inclusive colleagues within Israel. I do not share the BDS position, and disagree with it. My heart goes out both to the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, who have suffered an unremitting condition of strife for more than seven decades in West Asia.

I condemn unequivocally the terror unleashed by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023, and the horrendous massacre by Hamas militants of Israeli men, women and children as well as Palestinian, Thai, Filipino, Nepali and other individuals. I mourn the deaths of these innocent people. At the same time, I cannot ignore the brutal programme of annihilation that the government of Israel has launched against the Palestinian civilian population, in retaliation. I cannot look away from this humanitarian catastrophe, its cost exacted in the lives of innocent men, women and children. Now, more than ever, there is a compelling need to bring the communities of Israel and Palestine together; to renounce the exceptionalism of suffering on both sides, and to craft a solidarity of grief, a communion of shared vulnerability, and a process of healing and renewal.

3. Let us now consider the so-called evidence that has been presented against me: my signature on a petition circulated by the Indian Cultural Forum and dated 26 August 2019, protesting a discussion hosted by the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai, on ‘Leaders’ Idea of Nations: Zionism and Hindutva’. The invitation for this event presented a portrait of Theodor Herzl, the founding figure of Zionism, alongside a portrait of V D Savarkar, a founding figure of Hindutva.

My reason for signing this petition was because the event clearly posited an equivalence between Herzl and Savarkar, and was intended to develop intellectual respectability for an alliance between Zionism and Hindutva. I found this highly ironic, since Savarkar was known to be an admirer of Hitler and openly expressed his admiration for the Nazi ideology and methods, which he proposed as a model for a Hindu-majoritarian India to follow, especially with regard to the treatment of the religious minorities. No member of the German commentariat who denounced me has asked herself or himself why the Israeli Consulate General thought it appropriate to equate Zionism with Hindutva, in the first place.

I have dedicated my life to opposing authoritarian forces and discriminatory ideologies, and my signature carried with it the weight of my commitment to dialogue, inclusiveness, mutuality, and the ceaseless quest for common ground. This commitment remains with me, as the cornerstone of my life.

With warm good wishes, Ranjit"

In yesterday's article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung Nicht schon wieder, Documenta, (Not again, Documenta) Nele Pollatschek reports that a statement considered closely affiliated with the BDS movement was signed by member of the documenta 16 Finding Committee Ranjit Hoskoté. This was the "Statement against consulate general of Israel, Mumbai's event on Hindutva and Zionism" dated August 26, 2019.

Commenting on this matter Andreas Hoffmann said the following: "The signing of the above statement by a member of the Finding Committee of the Artistic Direction of documenta 16 is not in the least acceptable to us at documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH due to its explicitly anti-Semitic content. We were not aware of Ranjit Hoskoté's signature under the statement from 2019 until yesterday. Likewise, we were not even aware of the statement itself.

Addressing the anti-Semitic misconduct at documenta 15 is a very serious matter for us: It was an essential requirement of the shareholders that the Finding Committee should have no BDS affiliations, and this was explicitly conveyed to the former Artistic Directors entrusted with the task of setting up the Finding Committee (see Statement of the former Artistic Directors of documenta on the proposal for the appointment of the documenta 16 finding committee).

Before taking up their committee work all six members of the Finding Committee made an unambiguous declaration to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and explicitly distanced themselves from the BDS movement."

Following the press report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Ranjit Hoskoté stated to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH that by signing the declaration in 2019, he had particularly opposed Hindutva extremism, which is avowedly inspired by Nazism and fascism. He had dedicated his life to rejecting authoritarian ideologies. Meanwhile, he has spoken out publicly and clearly against any cultural boycott of Israel. He rejects the goals of the BDS movement and does not support the movement. In particular after October 7, 2023, following Hamas' terror in Israel and its consequences, his thoughts are with both the Jewish and the Palestinian people, with the suffering civilian population in Israel and Palestine.

This statement made to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH gives us reason to discuss more extensive questions with the member of the Finding Committee.

The news and images of Hamas terror and violence in Israel that have been circulating since Saturday deeply shock us at documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. Thousands of rockets were fired at Israel by terrorists from the Gaza Strip. At the same time, heavily armed fighters have invaded Israel. They have penetrated the homes of civilians, murdered innocent people, and taken dozens of hostages into the Gaza Strip. These acts are barbaric, they are outrageous, they are in no way justifiable.

In a conversation with Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Andreas Hoffmann, emphasized to President Dr. Josef Schuster and Managing Director Daniel Botmann today, Monday, that documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH condemns the actions of Hamas in the strongest possible terms. He added: "We feel deep sorrow, great empathy, and solidarity with the people of Israel. In view of this horror, unimaginable scenes are playing out on German streets and on social media. Gruesome videos of violence, murder, and desecration of corpses following IS tactics have received thousands of likes on Instagram. According to media reports, open expressions of solidarity with Palestine were held in Berlin in light of these current warlike actions. The fact that two members of the curatorial collective ruangrupa liked a video showing people chanting "viva Palestine" as well as "Palestine will be free" under the headline "Berlin up for Palestine" on this very day is intolerable and unacceptable. documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH distances itself from this in the strongest possible terms. It notes that the likes have since been withdrawn and that those involved acknowledge them as a mistake.
The terrorist events and reactions to them come at a time when documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH is actively seeking to regain the trust of Jews and the general public in view of the anti-Semitic misconduct of last summer. Especially today, October 9, the anniversary of the tragic assassination in Halle, these events serve as a reminder to actively and forcefully stand up against any form of anti-Semitism.

The current circumstances, as well as certain recent statements made by participating artist collectives on the topic of anti-Semitism at documenta fifteen to the magazine monopol, once again show that a discussion or understanding around the anti-Semitism issue at documenta fifteen has not yet proven successful. The symposium organized together with the documenta Institute for November 17 and 18, 2023, is all the more important to us as a key building block towards coming to terms with the incidents of anti-Semitism here in Kassel.

documenta fifteen (June 18 to September 25, 2022) formed the focal point of a debate on the present day legacy of the Holocaust and colonialism. Now that some time has passed since the events of that time, documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH would like to look forward, from documenta fifteen, with a symposium conceived by the documenta Institute: What impact has documenta fifteen had on art, politics, and the public sphere? In a series of talks, Nicole Deitelhoff, Klaus Holz, Yael Kupferberg, Thomas Macho, Meron Mendel, Armin Nassehi, Maria Neumann, and Natan Sznaider will take the floor. The event will be hosted by Heinz Bude.

The background for the symposium is a research project on documenta fifteen as a public event and place for discourse, led by Meron Mendel and Heinz Bude. The project explores the dispute over an exhibition of contemporary art and the question as to the role of Eurocentric modernism in a global society that can no longer be conceived from Europe alone. Publication of the research project is planned for summer 2024.

Commenting on this Andreas Hoffmann, Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH highlights: "With its transgressions in the field of anti-Semitism, documenta fifteen amounted to a social watershed. Since then, the debate around artistic freedom and its limits has seen increasing polarization. I think it is very important to discuss this here in Kassel now some time has passed. I would therefore like to thank Heinz Bude very warmly for his work in this field and for his willingness to open it up to the public already now." Heinz Bude stresses, "This symposium picks up on the issue of artistic freedom in dark times with the necessary calm, but also with the requisite clarity. I very much look forward to hearing our guests and to engaging in unfettered debate."


Program

Symposium
documenta fifteen as a Watershed Moment? Art, Politics, and the Public Sphere
With Nicole Deitelhoff, Klaus Holz, Yael Kupferberg, Thomas Macho, Meron Mendel, Armin Nassehi, Maria Neumann, Natan Sznaider

Friday, November 17, 7–9 pm and Saturday 18, 2023, 10–5 pm
Event Location: UK 14, Untere Karlsstr. 14, 34117 Kassel, www.uk14.de
In German with simultaneous interpretation into English
Incl. Livestreaming

Schedule

Friday, November 17, 2023
7–9 pm. Admission from 18.30 pm

Welcome
Andreas Hoffmann

Hosted by
Heinz Bude

7.15–9 pm
Module 1: German Conflicts of Interpretation?
With Nicole Deitelhoff and Meron Mendel
To kick things off, the art event documenta fifteen will be explored as a test case for changes in the political culture of the Federal Republic of Germany. What is non-negotiable and in what respects are negotiations necessary?

Saturday, November 18, 2023
10–4 pm. Admission from 9.30 am

10–11.30 am
Module 2: documenta as an Exhibition and Media Event
With Armin Nassehi and Klaus Holz
Next, we will look at the interferences between personal experience at documenta fifteen and the media coverage of documenta fifteen. What tensions, conflicts, and divisions have emerged in its reception?

12–1.30 pm
Module 3: Israel and Global Unease
With Natan Sznaider and Thomas Macho
Drawing to a close, the unspoken implications of this debate are then addressed. In reactions to the critique of documenta fifteen, a distinction between a legitimate and an illegitimate "critique of Israel" was made. What unease is associated with the name Israel, and by whom?

1.30–2.30 pm
Lunch break

2.30–4 pm
Module 4: Art and its Contaminations
With Maria Neumann and Yael Kupferberg
Last but not least, the trail of contaminations is addressed within the history of the documenta exhibitions. Here, historical analysis collides with personal confrontations with the issue. What fears and what anxieties have the various documenta exhibitions generated in whom?


The documenta Institute
The documenta Institute has been developed in cooperation between the State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, and the University of Kassel with Kunsthochschule Kassel using financial support for the building project from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. 2020 saw the appointment of Professor Dr. Heinz Bude as Founding Director. As part of the development of the documenta Institute, three tenure-track professorships in the departments of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape Planning, and Social Sciences at the University of Kassel were established in 2021 with funding from the State of Hesse.


Press contact
Johanna Köhler
Leitung Kommunikation und Marketing / Head of Communications and Marketing
documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
T + 49 561 70727-2520
M + 49 151 18015290
presse@documenta.de

Mit dem Besuch der Chefkuratorin des Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, Sari Golan, in der nordhessischen Metropole dokumentieren die Stadt Kassel und ihre israelische Partnerstadt Ramat Gan ihren lebendigen Austausch.

Höhepunkte des von der Stadt Kassel und der documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH gemeinsam initiierten einwöchigen Aufenthaltes von Sari Golan sind ein Austausch mit Kassels neuem Oberbürgermeister Dr. Sven Schoeller und documenta-Geschäftsführer Andreas Hoffmann. Darüber hinaus wird sich Golan auch mit Vertreterinnen und Vertretern aus der Kasseler Museumslandschaft, der Künstler- und Galerienszene sowie der Kunsthochschule treffen. Zudem bereichern das Sara Nussbaum Zentrum sowie die Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft das Programm des Besuches mit Einblicken in das jüdische Leben in Kassel sowie die lokalen Geschehnisse während der Herrschaft der Nationalsozialisten.

„Ich freue mich sehr über den nun initiierten engen Austausch mit unserer Partnerstadt Kassel und mit der documenta, die für mich als Kuratorin im Feld der zeitgenössischen Kunst ein wichtiger Bezugspunkt ist. Ich erlebe eine äußerst warmherzige Gastfreundschaft, die mir bei meinem Aufenthalt allerorten entgegengebracht wird“, erklärte die Chefkuratorin des Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art.

Kassels Oberbürgermeister Dr. Sven Schoeller betonte die Bedeutung der Städtepartnerschaft zwischen Kassel und Ramat Gan: „Sari Golans Besuch ist ein weiterer wichtiger Schritt zu einem noch intensiveren Austausch im Rahmen der innigen Städtefreundschaft mit Ramat Gan, die seit mehr als 30 Jahren besteht. Insbesondere im Bereich der zeitgenössischen Kunst bieten sich hier große Möglichkeiten und Chancen.“ Bei einem Video-Meeting mit Ramat Gans stellvertretendem Bürgermeister Roi Barzilai im Vorfeld des Besuches wurde verabredet, dass die beiden Städte ihre Partnerschaft ausbauen und einen kontinuierlichen Erfahrungsaustausch anstreben sollten.

Auch documenta-Geschäftsführer Andreas Hoffmann freut sich über den Austausch: „Mit Sari Golan besucht eine sehr engagierte Kuratorin aus dem Feld der zeitgenössischen Kunst die documenta Stadt Kassel. Mit ihr und dem Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan verbindet uns das große Interesse an einer engagierten Kunst, die ganz nahe an der Gesellschaft agiert, aber auch an wichtigen Schwerpunkten im Bereich der Kunstvermittlung und des Community Buildings. Ich freue mich sehr über den engen Austausch bereits kurze Zeit nachdem sowohl Sari Golan als auch ich unsere neuen Positionen in Ramat Gan und Kassel angetreten haben. Der künftig enge Austausch mit Israels Partnerstadt hat gerade nach den Antisemitismusvorfällen bei der documenta fifteen im vergangenen Jahr eine wichtige Funktion.“


Über die Stadt Kassel
Kassel ist mit etwa 205.000 Einwohnerinnen und Einwohnern die größte Stadt in der Mitte Deutschlands. Rund 111.000 sozialversicherungspflichtige Beschäftigte sind am Wirtschaftsstandort tätig. Gut 25.000 Menschen studieren an der Universität. Kassel ist die Stadt der documenta, der weltweit bedeutendsten Ausstellung zeitgenössischer Kunst, der Brüder Grimm und des UNESCO-Welterbes Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe mit dem Herkules, dem weithin sichtbaren Wahrzeichen der Stadt. Rund 3.500 Menschen sind direkt bei der Stadtverwaltung beschäftigt. Zudem ist die Stadt an weiteren großen Unternehmen beteiligt, darunter die Gesundheit Nordhessen Holding sowie die Kasseler Verkehrs- und Versorgungs-GmbH mit dem Verkehrsunternehmen KVG und dem Energieversorger Städtische Werke AG.

Representative visitor surveys have a long tradition at documenta. Since documenta 9 (1992), the non-profit limited company has been conducting representative visitor surveys for the documenta exhibitions, held every five years, in cooperation with retired professor Dr. Gerd-Michael Hellstern, so as to obtain information on audience structure and interests. For the first time now, an online survey on the topic of sustainability was conducted for documenta fifteen under the direction of Prof. Dr. Christian Herzig.

documenta fifteen Evaluation

The fifteenth documenta ran from June 18 to September 25, 2022. A total of over 738,000 visitors attended the exhibition.

The general documenta fifteen Evaluation examines which audience groups are addressed by the exhibition and which expectations or information requirements exist among the visitors. It also analyzes audience profiles (origin, motives, interests), audience attitudes (perception, perceptions), and visitor behavior (economic impact). The topic of antisemitism is dealt with in detail elsewhere, for example in the research project "Anti-Semitism and postcolonial debates using the example of documenta fifteen", conducted with the participation of the documenta Institute.

The survey on documenta fifteen demonstrates the unique position of documenta as a brand with a global reputation on the basis of the origin and structure of its visitors. The audience in Kassel is both international and also strongly anchored locally, regionally and nationally. The proportion of regular visitors (63.8%) has fallen compared to documenta 14 (in Kassel: 77%), but new groups of visitors have been attracted: it was predominantly younger visitors up to the age of 40 (65.5%) who visited a documenta exhibition for the first time.

Although visitors from some 86 countries were among those surveyed, the overall composition of the documenta fifteen audience was less international than at previous documenta exhibitions. This may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but possibly also to the war in Ukraine; there is no specific research as to the reasons. The largest shares of foreign visitors came from the Netherlands (16.4%) and Switzerland (10.5%), followed by Austria (7%), France (6.3%), the United Kingdom (6.3%), and the United States (6.3%).

Traditionally, documenta attracts a comparatively young audience. The mean age for visitors from abroad at documenta fifteen was 44, with the median at 42. National visitors, by comparison, were slightly older: the mean for visitors from Germany was 47 years, with the median at 51. The proportion of younger visitors up to 20 years of age increased as compared to documenta 14 – five years earlier there were only 6.6% visitors in the group up to 20 years of age, now there were 8.2%.

The analysis shows high overall satisfaction among respondents with their visit to the exhibition (mean score of 2.19). In particular, the atmosphere of the exhibition, the principle of communality (lumbung), and the international mix met with high approval ratings. Over 94% of the visitors were satisfied with the overall service of guided tours and offers. Plans to visit in the future were cited as an important indicator of success: Over 63% of all visitors stated they would like to attend the next documenta exhibition.

The survey also provides results regarding the regional economic impact of the documenta exhibition. For 89.8% of the non-local visitors, the exhibition was the reason for a trip to Kassel. The percentage of visitors who spent two days or more at documenta fifteen was high despite the economic climate and the pandemic. Non-local visitors from Germany stayed in Kassel for an average of about 3 days, international visitors from outside Europe for an average of 5 days.
Overall, it can be concluded that although the antisemitism issue left its mark on visitors to documenta fifteen, they largely rated their time at the exhibition itself in positive terms (international visitors even more so than their German counterparts), that content-related terms such as "lumbung" will remain fresh in their memories, and that the vast majority plan to visit again. Furthermore, the audience could be even younger. Under the scientific direction of Prof. Dr. Joanna Ożga, a total of 7,002 interviews were analyzed, which were obtained in the form of systematic random selection and combined standardized questions with face-to-face interviews.

Sustainability Survey

With a view to the exigencies of our time and ruangrupa's artistic practice, the theme of sustainability was approached holistically at documenta fifteen and taken into account in all areas of exhibition planning and execution. In addition to addressing ecological factors, the focus was on cultural, social, political, and economic aspects.

For instance, the "sustainability euro" included in the admission ticket generated 375,000 euros for reforestation. In addition, the ticket covered local public transportation for the first time. In the case of merchandise, the focus was on sustainable and/or regional products, print products were Blue Angel certified where possible, and were largely offered in digitally optimized versions via QR code at the distribution points. Ecological, regional, and low-waste food offerings were promoted through the use of reusable tableware, organic food, and regional, vegan, and vegetarian dishes. documenta fifteen was particularly committed to circular material flows, becoming a member of the Aktionsnetzwerk Nachhaltigkeit in Kultur und Medien (Action Network for Sustainability in Culture and the Media), funded by the Minister of State for Culture, as early as 2020, and initiating the founding of the umbrella association for Germany-wide material distribution and logistics initiatives (IfM) via a symposium in 2021. In line with this cross-cutting mission, documenta fifteen also had sustainability issues or its efforts in this area evaluated for the first time.

The overall assessment of documenta fifteen's Sustainability Efforts is predominantly positive. The environmentally friendly focus of documenta fifteen was recognized by 63.9% of respondents, or as many as 91.1% if those responding "partly/partially" are included. Over half the respondents took note of documenta fifteen's sustainability projects and over 90% were in favor of supporting sustainability projects.

90% of visitors polled expressed the view that the documenta exhibitions should be aligned to be as climate-neutral as possible. Just over 80% of those surveyed were in favor of organizing the exhibition with as little negative ecological impact as possible, even if this meant that prices, such as for admission or food offerings, would increase by a few euros. The Sustainability Efforts in the food and beverage sector were praised by many of the respondents. For instance, 8 out of 10 respondents positively viewed the fact that sufficient organic products and sufficient vegetarian alternatives were offered.

The main means of transport used by travelers to Germany from abroad were train (38.8%), car (29.5%), and plane (26.2%). To travel to Kassel within Germany, the most frequently chosen mode of transport was the train (long-distance) (40%), followed by the car (33.7%) and local public transport (20.1%). More than half (60.1%) therefore traveled by comparatively climate-friendly means of transport (local and long-distance). This was also the case for visitors from Kassel, who most frequently used local public transport (41.4%), which was included in the ticket for the first time, closely followed by the use of bicycles (36.7%). The existing Park & Ride offer was used only by one in ten visitors arriving by car. Within Kassel, visitors most frequently moved around on foot. The second most common option for local mobility was public transport. Cars, bicycles and e-bikes were hardly ever used to travel between the exhibition venues.

Over half the respondents rated the communication on sustainable event management as honest and appealing, with a quarter partially agreeing. Wishes on the part of visitors for more prominent communication on sustainability relate, for instance, to a stronger focus on sustainability information on on the website, to inform for visitors regarding climate-friendly travel to the event, or to the further reduction of paper-based communication and mediation materials. The online survey on documenta fifteen's Sustainability Efforts was conducted on behalf of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH by the University of Kassel/Justus Liebig University Giessen under the direction of Prof. Dr. Christian Herzig. Of the more than 738,000 visitors to documenta fifteen, 2,916 visitors took part in the survey.

Download of both evaluations.

Download Press Release as PDF

Following the recent Supervisory Board and shareholders’ meetings, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH can announce the approved and adopted annual financial statements for the financial year 2022. This means that documenta fifteen (June 18 – September 25, 2022) has remained within its EUR 42.2 million overall budget.

For the documenta year 2022, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH has presented a financial statement that is in the black.

Upon recommendation of the Supervisory Board, the shareholders approved the annual financial statements for 2022 and discharged the Managing Directors Dr. Sabine Schormann, Alexander Farenholtz and Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André for the financial year 2022.

The acting Managing Director Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann is pleased with this result and thanks his predecessors and the team: “I am very pleased that we can now close the major exhibition, which was prepared during the pandemic and marked by the crisis surrounding the anti-Semitic motifs, in the black. I would like to take this as an opportunity to thank my predecessors and the team for prudent financial management and controlling.”

After the Finding Committee for documenta 16 (June 12 – September 19, 2027) was already established at the end of March 2023, the non-profit GmbH is rapidly moving ahead towards the opening of the preparatory phase of documenta 16. The Artistic Direction will be announced as planned around the turn of the year 2023/2024. At the same time, documenta will continue until the end of the year to undergo the organizational development initiated in response to the anti-Semitism incidents at documenta fifteen.

Press release for download

Together with documenta fifteen artist Dan Perjovschi, the cooperation partners Hessen Kassel Heritage and documenta archiv have refurbished and reopened the room dedicated to the latest edition of documenta in an exhibition entitled "about: documenta" hosted in the Neue Galerie in Kassel.

For the new exhibition display, Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi could now be won to design a wall. With his critical and yet humorous stenographs on the crises and conflicts of our time, Perjovschi has created one of the central artistic interventions of documenta fifteen on the columns of the portico of the Fridericianum, with his work Generosity, Regeneration, Transparency, Independence, Suffcieny, Local Anchor and most of all Humor (2022).

Curated by the Indonesian artists' collective ruangrupa, documenta fifteen (2022) set in motion a continuing debate about artistic freedom, its limits, and group-specific discrimination such as anti-Semitism and racism in art. In the wake of the accusations of anti-Semitism, central artistic concerns of the exhibition, such as the communal sharing of resources or the notion of social and ecological sustainability, shifted into the background. The presentation in the Neue Galerie now spotlights the past exhibition summer by way of selected artistic projects at documenta fifteen. The permanent exhibition "about: documenta" in the Neue Galerie provides an overview of some 70 years of documenta history. What began in 1955 with the first documenta under difficult conditions in the provisionally restored Fridericianum in Kassel, destroyed during the war, grew under founder Arnold Bode and subsequent artistic directors into one of the largest art events worldwide. The presentation in the Neue Galerie, now expanded to include the most recent documenta edition, takes visitors on a journey through the show's history via key artworks, scenographies, models, films, images, and documents, which can always be read as a seismogram of artistic, social, and political events of the day.

The new presentation was curated by Dorothee Gerkens (Director Neue Galerie), Birgitta Coers (Director documenta archiv), Julius Lehmann (Research Associate documenta archiv), and Harald Kimpel (freelance author and art historian).

The exhibition about: documenta opened in November 2019 as a cooperation between Hessen Kassel Heritage and documenta archiv.

About the documenta archiv

The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode, the initiator of the Kassel exhibition venture, with the task of providing the artistic directors of the world's most important art event with a memorizing institution. Today, under the auspices of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, the documenta archiv is dedicated to the collection, documentation and academic research of texts, images and objects on modern and contemporary art. One of the focal points is the history of the documenta exhibitions held since 1955, the changing curatorial practices, their social interconnections and institutional conditions. In addition to its functions within the documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, the documenta archiv is concerned with documentary strategies in contemporary art and aspects of media history. The documenta archiv is a member of the Arbeitskreis selbstständiger Kultur-Institute e.V. (AsKI) and initiates research and exhibition projects along its own holdings in cooperation with regional, national and international scholarly and cultural institutions.

On May 2, 2023, the Arnold Bode Prize 2022 was ceremoniously awarded to documenta fifteen lumbung member Wajukuu Art Project at the Brüderkirche Kassel. In Ann Mbuti's laudation, she particularly emphasized the community-oriented artistic practice of the artist*s collective from Nairobi:

"At the beginning of the curatorial concept of the past documenta (...) was a rethinking. The lumbung principle aimed not to make the participating collectives contribute something to the world-renowned art show, but to support them in their work and to show the fruits of it in Kassel (...). Instead of asking what the individual actors, the artists, collectives and creative communities can do for documenta, the question was: What can documenta do for these actors? Exactly this change of perspective also happens in the Wajukuu Art Project with regard to art itself: No discourse, no "l'art pour l'art" thinking determines its activities, but the will to change something in the reality of life in Mukuru - with the help of art. Wajukuu does not ask what the collective can do for the discourse, for art, but asks what can art do for its community? Wajukuu puts artistic practice at the beginning of a new vision for their community."

Please find here the press release of the city of Kassel

The Finding Committee of documenta 16 consists of six renowned international experts in contemporary art: Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger, Gong Yan, Ranjit Hoskoté, Simon Njami, Kathrin Rhomberg, and María Inés Rodríguez. The Supervisory Board at documenta gGmbH today appointed the Finding Committee for the exhibition, which will be held in Kassel from June 12 to September 19, 2027.

The Finding Committee has the task of inviting pioneering figures in contemporary art to apply to take on the role of Artistic Direction of documenta 16, and to select the most promising format from the concepts presented. Appointment of the Artistic Direction is targeted for late 2023 / early 2024.

"Today we are taking an important step towards documenta 16," declare Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Lord Mayor of Kassel, Christian Geselle, and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hesse's Minister for Science and the Arts, Angela Dorn. "We have been able to enlist six eminent experts from throughout the world who, with their different artistic, curatorial and cultural-theoretical backgrounds and indeed as individuals, together stand for the modernity, internationality, and diversity of documenta. The Finding Committee now has ample time to attract the best and most innovative concepts to Kassel. It is our goal to address the shortcomings surrounding the issue of anti-Semitism at documenta fifteen. Prerequisites for the next steps, including the already agreed organizational development , are in place. At the same time, we wish to give the world's most important exhibition of contemporary art the planning time and space and security that its unique status deserves. With the Finding Committee in place, we are ideally positioned to do so."

In appointing the Committee, the Supervisory Board is following the proposal of former documenta Artistic Directors who were entrusted with this task in November 2022: Catherine David (documenta 10, 1997), Roger M. Buergel (documenta 12, 2007), Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (documenta 13, 2012), and Adam Szymczyk (documenta 14, 2017).

The outgoing Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH Ferdinand von Saint André thanks those involved: “I would particularly like to acknowledge the efforts of documenta's former Artistic Directors. They have made their expertise available to us in difficult times out of their attachment to the organization. I would also like to thank the Supervisory Board, which prioritized the establishment of the Finding Committee following this proposal. Finally, I sincerely thank the members of the Finding Committee for entrusting documenta with their expertise to lay the foundation for documenta 16."

"We sincerely thank Ferdinand von Saint André for leading documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH with great commitment during a difficult phase," said Geselle and Dorn on behalf of the Supervisory Board. "It took courage to take on this task and clarity of direction to complete it within the clearly defined interim period. Ferdinand von Saint André brought both of these things to the table. Andreas Hoffmann, who will take over as Managing Director on May 1, will find a documenta gGmbH that is well prepared for the upcoming changes."

The incoming Managing Director is delighted with the Supervisory Board's decision: "With the Finding Committee presented today, we are attracting six top-flight personalities from the world of contemporary art to documenta 16. I look forward to the process and thank Ferdinand von Saint André for setting this up during his tenure."

Members of the Finding Committee:

Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger is painter, visual artist, philosopher, psychoanalyst and a groundbreaking theorist whose Matrixial theory has impacted the contemporary fields of ethics and aesthetics, critical studies, art theory and art history, film and literary studies, and feminism for more then three decades now. Based in Tel Aviv and Paris, her artworks have been presented at major museums of contemporary art worldwide, including Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2018), Istanbul Biennial (2015), “Face à l'Histoire” (1996) and “ELLES” (2011) both at Centre Pompidou, Paris. Currently she participates in “Artists in a Time of War at Castello di Rivoli”, Turin, where she also presents a solo show in parallel. Her books include: "Matrix: Halala Lapsus" (1993), "The Matrixial Gaze" (1995), “Régard et éspace-de-bord matrixiels” (1999), “The Matrixial Borderspace” (2006), “Proto-ética matricial” (2019), “Matrixial Subjectivity, Aesthetics, Ethics: 1990-2000” (2020).

Gong Yan graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieur des Beaux-Art, Paris, and is a professor at Shanghai Institute of Visual Art and former Chief-Editor of Art World magazine. Since 2013 she has been the director of Power Station of Art. Gong Yan lebt in Shanghai. While still an artist at the 6. Shanghai Biennale in 2006, she moved into the curatorial field and had curated exhibitions such as “Ordinary Architecture” – The Chinese Pavilion in the 11. International Architecture Venice Biennale (2012, together with Yong-ho Chang and A Cheng), “Shinohara Kazuo” (2014), “Mobile Architecture: Yona Friedman” (2015), “Snacks” (2016), “PSA Collection Series Yu Youhan” (2017), “PSA Collection Series Li Shan” (2017), “Body Media” (2007 and 2017), “HON: Niki de Saint Phalle & Shen Yuan” (2018), “Hussein Chalayan: Archipelago” (2021/2022).

Ranjit Hoskoté is a writer, cultural theorist, art critic and curator, he lives in Mumbai. Hoskoté is the author of more than 30 books, including volumes of poetry, art criticism, cultural history, translation, and edited anthologies. His curatorial projects include the 7. Gwangju Biennale (2008), which he co-curated with Okwui Enwezor and Hyunjin Kim, and the first-ever national pavilion of India at the 54. Venice Biennale. In 2023 Hoskoté will be part of the Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Simon Njami is a Paris-based independent curator, lecturer, art critic, and novelist. Njami was co-founder and editor-in-chief of Revue Noire. He was artistic director of the first Johannesburg Art Fair (2008), the Bamako Photography Biennial, the Dak'Art Biennial (2016/2018), and the São Paulo Biennial. He was co-curator of the first African Pavilion at the 52. Venice Biennale (2007). Njami has curated numerous exhibitions including "Africa Remix" (2004/2007), "The Divine Comedy" at MMK - Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, "SCAD" in Savannah (both 2014) and "The Smithsonian" in Washington DC (2015), "Xenopolis" in Berlin (2015), "After Eden, The Artur Walther Collection" in Paris (2015), "Metropolis" and "I is another" (both in Rome 2018), "The Studio" as part of the Kampala Biennale 2019, "This space between us" in Las Palmas (2020) and “Materia Prima” in San Giminiano (2021).

Kathrin Rhomberg is a curator and headed the exhibition office of Secession in Vienna from 1990 to 2001 and the Kölnischer Kunstverein from 2002 to 2007. Since 2014 she has been chairwoman of the board of the Trägerverein der Kontakt Sammlung and its artistic director. She curated, among others, Roman Ondak for the Czech and Slovak Pavilion at the 53. Venice Biennale (2009), the 6. Berlin Biennale (2010), Petrit Halilaj for the Pavilion of the Republic of Kosovo at the 55. Venice Biennale (2013) and co-curated, among others, Manifesta 3, Ljubljana (2000) and "Projekt Migration", Cologne, (2002-2006). Kathrin Rhomberg lives in Vienna and teaches also there at the University of Applied Arts.

María Inés Rodríguez ( lives and works in Brussels and São Paulo) has a curatorial and institutional practice relating to consolidate the museum as a platform for knowledge trough the exhibition, cultural and educational programs. She is currently director of the Walter Leblanc Foundation and curator at large at MASP, Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand.
In parallel, Rodríguez is part of Tropical Papers, an inclusive cultural forum, which she founded in 2005, dedicated to developing a reflection on art, architecture, design and scientific research and to making visible the work and projects of cultural practitioners from and in the tropics. She was previously the Director of CAPC Muséed’art Contemporain of Bordeaux in France, chief curator of the MUAC in Mexico City, chief curator at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y Léon (MUSAC) in Spain and Guest Curator at Jeu de Paume in Paris.
Since 2017 she is Member of the Martell Foundation’s Board in France, and Member of the jury of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award Programme2019-2024 at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Norway. From 2017 until 2019 she was President of Comité Art Citoyen France, Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso.

Press release for download

documenta press contact
Johanna Köhler
Head of Communications and Marketing
documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
T +49 561 70727-2520
presse@documenta.de

"The expert report commissioned by the shareholders provides a well-founded and in-depth analysis of the events that shook documenta fifteen," say Christian Geselle, Chair of the Supervisory Board at documenta gGmbH, and his Deputy on the Supervisory Board, Angela Dorn, commenting on the significance of the report, which was discussed at the Supervisory Board meeting. Linked to this is the explicit expression of gratitude to the Expert Advisory Panel for the work they have done.
In view of the anti-Semitic incidents at documenta fifteen, the Supervisory Board at documenta gGmbH decided on July 15, 2022 to take a number of measures to reappraise the issue, including the appointment of this Expert Advisory Panel. The aim is to ensure that documenta also in future retains its unique status as an exhibition of contemporary art in Kassel. Scholars with expertise in the fields of anti-Semitism, peace and conflict studies, art as well as public law and political science have investigated the events at documenta fifteen over the past few months. At the meeting of the Supervisory Board on Friday, February 3, the focus was on the Final Report of the Expert Advisory Panel, which has now been released. The observations and findings formulated therein, together with further studies currently in progress, are to form the basis for the ongoing process of reappraising the content of documenta fifteen.

"The Supervisory Board particularly welcomes the clear classification of the criticized artworks and the pinpointing of the area of tension between constitutionally protected artistic freedom and at the same time responsible handling of anti-Semitic representations in this context," report Christian Geselle and Angela Dorn. The Supervisory Board considers the proposals and recommendations of the Expert Advisory Panel aimed at structural improvements to be valuable and worthwhile. It recommends that these be used as a basis for the organizational investigation initiated by the shareholders of documenta gGmbH, the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse. The shareholders will also remain in discussion with the federal government.

In conclusion, the Supervisory Board advocated the timely publication of the Final Report of the Expert Advisory Panel under the Chair of Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff, Executive Board Member at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt "Leibniz Institut – Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung" (HSFK) and Managing Spokesperson of the Research Institute Social Cohesion "Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt" (FGZ).

The Report of the Expert Advisory Panel is published here (in German only)

Erratum as of November 29, 2023

documenta press contact
Johanna Köhler
Head of Communications and Marketing
documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
T +49 561 70727-2520
presse@documenta.de

Cultural manager Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann, currently still Managing Director at the Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg, is to become the new Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. He will take up his position in Kassel on May 1, 2023. Until then, Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André, hired as interim Managing Director at the close of documenta fifteen, will continue in charge as agreed.

"The decision to appoint the new Managing Director also charts the course for the future of documenta in Kassel," say Kassel's Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at documenta gGmbH, and his deputy on the Supervisory Board, Hesse's Minister of Art Angela Dorn. As a cultural institution of global significance, documenta must tackle questions of content and rise to structural challenges, he said. "The Supervisory Board is convinced that in Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann we have found a cultural manager who is as experienced as he is committed," they added. When announcing the new appointment, they also expressed their gratitude for the work of the interim Managing Director, Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André: "His passion and professionalism in handling Kassel's and indeed our nation's precious cultural asset deserves the utmost respect," said Angela Dorn and Christian Geselle, voicing their appreciation for the interim Managing Director.
Commenting on his new role, Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann said: "documenta is one of the world's most important exhibitions of contemporary art. All editions of the world art exhibition have been key seismographs on the central discourses and challenges of our society as reflected in art. Managing documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH is a particularly diverse, exciting and honorable task, which I will approach with great respect, but also with a great deal of commitment and enthusiasm. I very much look forward to the close collegial cooperation with the expert teams at documenta, the Fridericianum, documenta Halle, the documenta Archive, the documenta Institute and the International Friends of documenta."
In the words of Prof. Manuel Hartung, CEO of the foundation ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, the sponsor of the Bucerius Kunst Forum: "documenta is an art exhibition of outstanding importance and reach – for my hometown Kassel, for Germany and for the international art world. I am delighted that Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann is able to take over as documenta's Managing Director in such challenging times. Andreas Hoffmann has shaped the Bucerius Kunst Forum in 15 years of very successful work – and made it a venue of highly acclaimed exhibitions and a forum on art in society. I heartily congratulate him on his leadership role at documenta!"

documenta 16 will be held in Kassel from June 12 to September 19, 2027. Until then, agreement on standards in dealing with artistic freedom and its limits, in addressing any group-specific form of misanthropy such as anti-Semitism, racism and antiziganism, but also the adaptation of organizational and committee structures as well as the definition of the framework conditions under which the artistic direction of documenta 16 will exercise its curatorial responsibility will all play a central role. Commenting on this Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann said: "In addition, further increasing documenta's international appeal and developing innovative forms of art education will be important, as will supporting documenta's individual institutions in their current projects."

Biography of Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann
The cultural manager Andreas Hoffmann, born in Norden in 1971, has been Managing Director at the Bucerius Kunst Forum since January 2007. Until 2019, he was also the programming manager for art and culture for the music and monument projects of the foundation ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius. Overseeing the forum's expansion in 2008 and the building of its new exhibition venue opening in 2019, he is responsible, amongst other things, for its interdisciplinary event programs. He is also curator of the antiquities exhibitions "Pompeii. Gods, Myths, Man" (2014) and "New Images in the Age of Augustus. Power and Media in Ancient Rome" (2022/3).
From September 2004 to December 2006, he was Managing Director of the Friends of Hamburg Kunsthalle as well as Managing Director of the German Federation of Friends of Museums of Fine Art (Bundesverband der Fördervereine deutscher Museen bildender Kunst e.V.). As a research assistant from 2001 to 2004, he was responsible for the antiquities collection of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe and curator of such exhibitions as "The Etruscans. Luxury for the Afterlife" (2004) or "The Pyramid. House for Eternity" (2002), but also "Gunter Sachs" (2004).
Hoffmann studied Classical Archaeology, Latin Philology, and Ancient History in Hamburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg and trained as a PR consultant while pursuing his career. In 2002, his doctoral thesis "Death in Taranto. Grave Ritual and Society" was published as part of a German-Italian research project on the comprehensive indexing of the necropolis in Taranto (Taranto Project). Since 2011 he has lectured at the Institute for Arts and Media Management at the University of Music and Theater in Hamburg, from 2016 as an honorary professor (pursuant to §17 of the HmbHG – German Higher Education Act). Since 2016, he has also been the spokesperson for the university’s Business and Marketing Faculty.
In addition to his professional activities, Andreas Hoffmann been part of the Supervisory Board of Kunsthalle Emden since 2017 and of the Board of Trustees of the German music foundation Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben since 2019.
Andreas Hoffmann is married to the Classical Archaeologist Annette Haug.

Portraitfoto of Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann for download.
Credits: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hoffmann, photo: Götz Wrage.

Press release for download

documenta press contact
Johanna Köhler
Head of Communications and Marketing
documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
T +49 561 70727-2520
presse@documenta.de

Neun künstlerische Positionen der documenta fifteen wurden für die städtischen und staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in der Neuen Galerie und Graphischen Sammlung angekauft. Der Magistrat der Stadt Kassel hat auf Vorschlag der Ankaufskommission entschieden, welche Kunstwerke erworben werden. Die Vertragsverhandlungen über den Ankauf wurden nun abgeschlossen.

Für die städtischen und staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in der Neuen Galerie und Graphischen Sammlung wurden folgende Kunstwerke erworben:

1. Amol K Patil Black Masks on Roller Skates
2. Britto Arts Project Rasad - Food Objects
3. Marwa Arsanios Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 4 Reverse Shot (Video)
4. Sebastián Diaz Morales Smashing Monuments *(Video)
5. Jatiwangi art Factory Perhutana Family Forest Terracotta*
6. Wajukuu Art Project Kahiu kogi gatemaga mwene
7. Atelier Goldstein Raumpräsentation (mit 12 Arbeiten inkl. Zusatzwerk)
8. Pınar Öğrenci Aşît *(Video)
9. Richard Bell *Gallery Hand Outs

Der Ankauf der ersten sechs Werke wurde dabei aus dem städtischen Etat mit rund 290.000 Euro finanziert, während die anderen drei Objekte durch die Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel (MHK), also das Land Hessen, für rund 130.000 Euro erworben wurden. Das Land Hessen und die Stadt Kassel kaufen in bewährter Weise in enger Abstimmung gemeinsam Kunstwerke der documenta für die Sammlungen an.

Über den Erwerb der Kunstwerke hatte zunächst die Ankaufskommission unter dem Vorsitz von Kulturdezernentin Dr. Susanne Völker beraten. Die Vorschläge hatte Dr. Dorothee Gerkens, Sammlungsleiterin der Neuen Galerie, gemacht. Der Kommission gehören die kulturpolitischen Vertreter der Fraktionen sowie die Vorsitzenden des Kunstvereins, der Kasseler Ortsgruppe des Bundesverbandes Bildender Künstler und des Museumsvereins an. Vertreten sind auch die Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel und das Fridericianum.

„Die ausgewählten Werke sind von hoher inhaltlicher und künstlerischer Relevanz für die Kunst und die Arbeitsweise der documenta fifteen. So bilden sie künftig in der städtischen Sammlung das Konzept des Kollektivs ruangrupa ebenso ab, wie die Vielfalt der oft gemeinwohlorientierten künstlerischen Ansätze der d15“, betonte Kulturdezernentin Dr. Susanne Völker.
„Die Arbeiten lassen sich gut in die bisherigen Sammlungen integrieren, korrespondieren mit schon vorhandenen Arbeiten und erweitern so den Bestand auf bereichernde Weise“, ergänzte Dr. Dorothee Gerkens von der MHK, die dort die städtische Kunstsammlung kuratiert.

Die Kunstwerke wurden zum größten Teil über die Lumbung Gallery erworben, einem eigens anlässlich der Weltkunstschau gegründeten Verein, der in Form einer Kooperative die Vermarktung der Kunstwerke übernommen hat. Damit soll Künstlerinnen und Künstlern eine faire Entlohnung zuteilwerden, wobei sie 70 Prozent des Verkaufspreises erhalten. Die übrigen 30 Prozent fließen in einen „Common Pot“, über den gemeinschaftlich entschieden wird und der auch die Finanzierung der Strukturen der Lumbung Gallery ermöglicht.

Hintergrund
Amol K Patil „Black Masks on Roller Skates“
Von dem indischen Konzept- und Performancekünstler wurde eine Auswahl von 13 Skulpturen, 13 Gemälden sowie ein Film erworben. Seine Arbeiten wurden im Bereich des Hübner-Areals gezeigt. Amol K Patil beschäftigt sich mit dem Kastensystem und den familiären Bindungen. Seine Kritik gilt dem auf Unterdrückung und Diskriminierung aufbauenden Kastensystem und er verfolgt in seinen Arbeiten insbesondere die Sichtbarmachung der Arbeiterklasse. So greift er in der Installation die Situation der Arbeitsmigranten in Mumbai auf. Deren moderne Wohnanlagen, die Chawls, wurden von den Migranten in dynamische Orte des Protests, des Theaters und der Musik verwandelt. Im Video bewegt sich ein Straßenreiniger auf Rollschuhen durch die Chawls. Die Musik hörend, blendet er die Außenwelt aus, eine Welt, die ihn als Reiniger braucht, aber als Mensch ausschließt.

Britto Arts Project „Rasad - Food Objects“
Das Britto Arts Project wurde in 2002 als gemeinnütziges Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst in Dhaka, Bangladesch gegründet. Erworben wurden 218 Einzelobjekte sowie ein im Maßstab verkleinerter Nachbau des „Marktstandes“, der in der documenta Halle ausgestellt war.
Kritisiert werden die Kommerzialisierung und Normierung von Lebensmitteln sowie die globalen Marktmechanismen. Einige Objekte enthalten Statements über die Nahrungsmittelpolitik, die von den Agrargiganten aus den Industrienationen bestimmt wird. Beispiele sind: Fische, die sich in Pistolen verwandeln oder ein Blumenkohl, der zum Atompilz wird.

Marwa Arsanios „Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part4 Reverse Shot“ Die Künstlerin, Filmemacherin und Forscherin Marwa Arsanios lebt und arbeitet v. a. in Beirut, Libanon. Der Film handelt von der Verteilung von Landrechten, insbesondere von der Vergemeinschaftung eines privaten Steinbruchs in den Bergen Libanons mithilfe einer landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaft.
Zudem beschäftigt sich Marwa Arsanios mit den Fragen nach Erbe, Besitz, Eigentum und Wert. Der vielschichtige Film reflektiert, inwiefern sich Land als lebendiges Objekt von Natur aus dem Eigentum widersetzt und wirft posthumanistische und ökologiephilosophische Fragen zu der Verflechtung des Geologischen, Historischen und Rechtlichen auf.

Sebastián Diaz Morales „Smashing Monuments“
Der Künstler und Filmemacher Sebastián Diaz Morales, geb. in Argentinien, lebt und arbeitet in Amsterdam. In seinem Film treten 5 Kuratorinnen und Kuratoren von ruangrupa (Indra Kusumaaka Ameng, Ade Darmawan, Gesyada Siregar, Farid Rakun & Naga Mirwan Andan) in Dialog über zentrale lumbung-Werte mit Monumenten in Jakarta. Insbesondere sind das:
• endurance (Beständigkeit)
• friendship (Freundschaft)
• generosity (Großzügigkeit)
• independence (Unabhängigkeit) und
• not goodbye (kein Abschied)
Der Film ist künstlerisch eigenständig und für die Sammlung auch als Zeugnis zentraler Haltungen der documenta fifteen wichtig. **
Jatiwangi art Factory Perhutana Family Forest Terracotta**
Jatiwangi art Factory ist ein 2005 gegründetes Kollektiv aus Indonesien. In Jatiwangi, Indonesien, soll auf acht Hektar Wald ein Naturschutzgebiet entstehen, für das jede/jeder Landanteile in einer Mindestgröße von 4 mal 4 Meter erwerben kann. Ziel ist es, den fortschreitenden Flächenverkauf - und somit das Abholzen alter Wälder - an Fabriken von Firmen wie Adidas, Puma oder H&M zu stoppen. Stattdessen soll ein kollektiver Naturwald aufgeforstet werden. Das Projekt Kota Terakota markiert so einen Neuanfang für Jatiwangi. Die Stadt wird nach den Wünschen und gemeinschaftlichen Vereinbarungen ihrer Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner umgestaltet.
Zu Beginn des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts entstand in Jatiwangi durch den Abbau von Ton die größte Ziegelindustrie Südostasiens. Hundert Jahre später, im Jahr 2005, ermutigte Jatiwangi art Factory – denselben Ton nutzend – die Bürgerinnen und Bürger aus Jatiwangi, durch Kunst und kulturelle Aktivitäten ein kollektives Bewusstsein und eine gemeinsame Identität für ihre Region auszubilden. Wer sich am Landkauf beteiligt, bekommt ein Zertifikat: einen gebrannten Ziegelstein mit der Aufschrift „Perhutana Family Forest Certificate“. Erworben wurden 25 Lizenzen.

Wajukuu Art Project „Kahiu kogi gatemaga mwene“ (2022) von Ngugi Waweru
Wajukuu Art Project ist ein Kollektiv aus Kenia. Das Wajukuu Art Projekt wurde 2004 von einer Gruppe von Künstlerinnen und Künstlern mit dem Ziel gegründet, die Slums von Mukuru zu einem Ort zu machen, an dem sich Kinder mithilfe von künstlerischen und kreativen Praktiken entfalten können. Weiter sollen durch die Produktion und den Verkauf von Kunstwerken Arbeitsplätze geschaffen werden.
In dem Art Project kann nicht nur künstlerisch gearbeitet werden, es gibt dort auch Unterricht für die Kinder und einen Gemüsegarten. Aktuell werden dort etwa 100 Kinder betreut. Das Kollektiv beschäftigt sich auch mit den Wunden des kolonialen Erbes. Sie möchten mit ihrer Kunst den Blick auf Afrika verändern und eine Anbindung an ihre Traditionen bewirken.
Die Arbeit „Kahiu kogi gatemaga mwene“ („Wenn ein Messer zu scharf ist, verletzt es den Besitzer“) ist eine Installation aus Küchenmessern. „Wer sie immer nachschleift, bewirkt, dass sie scharf sind, aber sie brechen schnell“, erklärt der Künstler Waweru. So seien sie auch ein Symbol für Menschen in der Leistungs- und Konsumgesellschaft. Wajukuu Art Project wurde mit dem Arnold-Bode-Preis 2022 ausgezeichnet.

Atelier Goldstein Raumpräsentation mit insgesamt 12 Arbeiten Das Atelier Goldstein, eingeladen von Project Art Works, vertritt neurodiverse Künstlerinnen und Künstler und gehört zum Lebenshilfe Frankfurt am Main e. V. Erworben wurde die gesamte Raumpräsentation mit insgesamt 12 Arbeiten von vier Künstlern, so wie sie im Hübner-Areal ausgestellt war.

Die Künstler im Einzelnen sind:
Franz von Saalfeld (1961 geboren in Ingelheim am Rhein, wo er auch heute lebt und arbeitet): 2 Aquarelle - Tusche und Wasserfarbe auf Papier: 1988 und 2003 Franz von Saalfeld malt bevorzugt Kleinstadtidyllen der 1950/60er Jahre. Mit Aquarellen, Texten und Bühnenbildmodellen spürt er der ungemütlichen Ruhe der Kleinstadt und seiner eigenen, eng verwobenen Biografie nach.
Hans Jörg Georgi (1949 in Frankfurt geboren): 3 Flugzeugmodelle

Seit Jahrzehnten schafft Hans-Jörg Georgi Flugzeuge aus Pappresten. Entdeckt vom Atelier Goldstein, nahm Hans-Jörg Georgi in den vergangenen Jahren mit seinen Flugobjekten an zahlreichen internationalen Ausstellungen teil. Sie lassen sich teils als fliegende Städte lesen, die das Überleben der Menschheit sichern. Zu den drei Flugobjekten hat der Künstler jeweils eine Zeichnung als Schenkung angefertigt.

Julius Bockelt (1986 geboren in Frankfurt am Main, lebt und arbeitet in Frankfurt am Main): mehrere Tuschezeichnungen Julius Bockelt arbeitet seit 2004 im Atelier Goldstein und verfolgt ein klares künstlerisches Konzept, in dessen Mittelpunkt die Grenzen der Wahrnehmung und metaphysische Themen stehen. Sein eigenständiges zeichnerisches und fotografisches Werk beruht auf visuellen und auditiven Phänomenen.

Juewen Zhang (1995 geboren in Berlin, lebt und arbeitet in Langen und Frankfurt am Main): Zwei Kohlezeichnungen Juewen Zhang ist der erste Studierende einer Kunsthochschule in Deutschland, der sich offen mit der Diagnose einer kognitiven Beeinträchtigung beworben hat. Seit 2019 studiert er freie Kunst an der Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach. Sein Fokus liegt, so auch in seiner Scheitelserie, auf minutiös gezeichneten Detailaufnahmen, die einen ganz anderen Blick auf die Figur richten.

Pınar Öğrenci „Aşît“
Die Künstlerin und Filmemacherin Pınar Öğrenci, geboren in der Türkei, lebt und arbeitet in Berlin. Der Film behandelt die traumatische Geschichte Ostanatoliens und thematisiert rückblickend die Überlebensstrategien von Armenierinnen und Armeniern sowie Kurdinnen und Kurden auf dem Gebiet der heutigen Osttürkei. Er stellt zudem eine Referenz an Stefans Zweigs „Schachnovelle“ dar.

Richard Bell „Gallery Hand Outs” Der Künstler und Aborigine-Aktivist Richard Bell lebt und arbeitet in Brisbane, Australien. Das Gemälde „Gallery Hand Outs“ thematisiert die Komplizenschaft des westlichen Kunstsystems und des kolonialen Kapitalismus bei der Vereinnahmung von Kunst in ihre Systeme. Einer Generation von Aborigine-Aktivistinnen und -Aktivisten entstammend, setzt sich Richard Bell konsequent für eine Politik der Selbstbestimmung der Aborigines ein. Richard Bell war auf der documenta zudem zentral vor dem Fridericianum mit der „Aboriginal Embassy“ vertreten.

Stadt Kassel www.kassel.de

Pressesprecher: Victor Deutsch, Simone Scharnke, Michael Schwab, Sascha Stiebing

presse@kassel.de
Telefon 0561 787 1231
Rathaus, 34112 Kassel

Die Stadt Kassel, die documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH sowie die Künstlerin Graziela Kunsch starten einen Spendenaufruf, der den Ankauf des documenta fifteen-Kunstwerks „Eltern und Kleinkinder Krippe / Public Daycare“ für die Stadt Kassel ermöglichen soll. Bürgerinnen und Bürger sind eingeladen, sich mit ihren Spenden am Erhalt des Kunstwerks in Kassel zu beteiligen.

Bereits während der Ausstellungslaufzeit der documenta fifteen formierte sich ein engagierter Unterstützerkreis, der sich für den langfristigen Verbleib des Kunstwerks „Public Daycare“ in Kassel einsetzte und von zahlreichen Stimmen aus der Bevölkerung und Öffentlichkeit bestärkt wurde. Die Stadt Kassel nimmt sich nun dem öffentlichen Interesse um das Kunstwerk an und startet gemeinsam mit der documenta und der Künstlerin eine Spendenaktion, um die Arbeit als dauerhaftes Kunstwerk in Kassel zu etablieren – wie dies bereits für verschiedene Außenkunstwerke vergangener documenta Ausstellungen gelungen ist.

Ziel ist es, das Kunstwerk – bestehend aus der vollständigen Einrichtung und Ausstattung, der Bibliothek des Spiels (Library of Playful Objects), der Fotoausstellung und Videoarbeit – über die lumbung Gallery für den Gesamtpreis von 178.500 Euro zu erwerben. In Kooperation mit den Initiatorinnen der „Public Daycare“ wurden Räumlichkeiten in der Innenstadt gesucht und bis auf Weiteres in der Kasseler Markthalle gefunden. Dort stehen geeignete Flächen und Infrastruktur zur Verfügung, um die Neueröffnung der Einrichtung zeitnah zu ermöglichen. Die „Eltern und Kleinkinder Krippe“ wird dann wie während der documenta fifteen als kostenfreies Angebot für alle Kinder von 0 bis 3 Jahren und ihre Begleitpersonen nutzbar sein. Für den Betrieb selbst zeichnet sich die Elterninitiative verantwortlich, die sich zu diesem Zweck in Gründung eines Trägervereins befindet. Die Stadt wird darüber hinaus eine Anschubfinanzierung des Betriebs von 15.000 Euro jährlich zur Verfügung stellen.

Sollte das Spendenziel binnen der drei Monate laufenden Kampagne nicht erreicht werden und die Künstlerin mit der lumbung Gallery der erreichten Summe als Kaufpreis nicht zustimmen, erhalten die Spenderinnen und Spender ihr Geld zurück.

Beliebter Ausstellungsbeitrag für Kinder und Familien
Während der documenta fifteen bot die Künstlerin Graziela Kunsch mit dem Kunstwerk „Eltern und Kleinkinder Krippe“ im Erdgeschoss des Fridericianums einen Raum zum voneinander Lernen für Babys und Kinder bis 3 Jahre und ihre Begleitpersonen. Der vom pädagogischen Ansatz Emmi Piklers getragene Ausstellungsbeitrag erfreute sich großer Beliebtheit. Begleitet von einer Fotoausstellung, Videoarbeit und der Bibliothek des Spiels erzählte Graziela Kunsch von den Erkenntnissen Emmi Piklers zur freien Bewegungsentwicklung und dem achtsamen Umgang mit Kleinkindern, die damit ein respektvolles Miteinander von Anfang an erfahren können. Durch den mit der Kasselerin Elke Avenarius besonders gestalteten Krippenbereich wurde dies für Besucherinnen und Besucher erfahrbar. Die documenta fifteen sprach damit erstmals auch jüngste Gäste und ihre Familien mit einem konkreten künstlerischen Angebot direkt an.

Stimmen der Initiatorinnen und Initiatoren
Johannes Bleck von der Elterninitiative erläutert das Engagement: „Eltern, Großeltern, Tagespflege-Personen und viele Interessierte haben die „Eltern und Kleinkinder Krippe“ während der documenta fifteen so sehr ins Herz geschlossen, dass wir uns nicht vorstellen können, auf diesen wertvollen Raum zu verzichten. Daher haben sich ca. 30 Eltern aus Kassel zusammengefunden, die sich für den Erhalt einsetzen und für den Betrieb engagieren. Wir glauben an das Potenzial des Kunstwerks, als Kulturraum, als Kooperationsfläche und Vernetzungsort. Wir sehen es als eine Besonderheit, die als Leuchtturmprojekt vermag belebte Kunst neu zu denken, documenta Kunst ins öffentliche Leben zu integrieren, die Kasseler Innenstadt zu bereichern und internationale Brückenschläge lebendig und sichtbar zu machen.“

Die Künstlerin Graziela Kunsch begrüßt das Vorhaben auch mit Blick auf die Weiterentwicklung ihres Projekts: „Ich freue mich sehr, dass unser Beitrag in Kassel einen solchen Zuspruch erfährt und Freundinnen und Freunde gefunden hat, die sich für den Erhalt engagieren. Teile der Spendenerlöse möchte ich dafür aufwenden, nochmal nach Deutschland zu kommen, um gemeinsam mit Elke Avenarius den Entwurf auf die neuen Räumlichkeiten anzupassen, die Library of Playful Objects auszubauen und eine Public Parental Daycare auch in meinem Heimatort São Paulo im Casa do Povo aufzubauen.“

Kulturdezernentin Dr. Susanne Völker wirbt für die Spendenaktion und betont die Bedeutung des Werks für Kassel: „Es ist bereits gute Tradition, dass neben den durch die Ankaufskommission für die Sammlung der Neuen Galerie erworbenen Werken, einzelne besondere Kunstwerke der documenta Ausstellungen durch bürgerschaftliches Engagement für Kassel gewonnen werden können. Aufgrund des großen öffentlichen Interesses handelt es sich bei der documenta fifteen dabei nun erstmalig nicht um ein Außenkunstwerk, sondern um einen speziell auf kleine Kinder und ihre Begleitungen ausgerichteten Raum, der einen wertvollen Begegnungs- und Lernort schafft. Diesen möchten wir mit Unterstützung der Bevölkerung für Kassel sichern, denn mit diesem Konzept verkörpert die Arbeit auch treffend die künstlerische Praxis ruangrupas und den lebendigen und teilhabeorientierten Begriff von Kunst, der die documenta fifteen prägte.“

Kassels Jugenddezernentin Nicole Maisch bedankt sich bei allen, die sich für das Projekt einsetzen: „Ich freue mich sehr, dass mit der „Public Daycare“ ein nichtkommerzieller und jahreszeitenunabhängiger Ort geschaffen wird, an dem sich Mütter und Väter mit ihren Kleinkindern spontan treffen und Elemente der kindgerechten und entwicklungsfördernden Pikler-Pädagogik ausprobieren können. Die Markthalle mit ihrer zentralen Lage in der Innenstadt ist ein toller Standort für das Kunstwerk. Ich danke der Elterninitiative, der Künstlerin Graziela Kunsch und ihrer lokalen Kooperationspartnerin Elke Avenarius und der Kasseler Markthalle sehr für die gute Zusammenarbeit, die Kassel um ein ganz besonderes Angebot bereichern wird.“

Eingerichtetes Spendenkonto
Spenden können auf das folgende Konto überwiesen werden: Kassel documenta Stadt
IBAN: DE16 5205 0353 0000 0110 99
BIC: HELADEF1KAS
Spendenzweck: Ankauf des Kunstwerks „Eltern und Kleinkinder Krippe“

Da im Fall des Nichtankaufs eine Rücküberweisung des gespendeten Betrags erfolgt, sind folgende Angaben notwendig: Spendenzweck: Ankauf des Kunstwerks „Eltern und Kleinkinder Krippe“ sowie Name des Spenders/der Spenderin beziehungsweise der Firma und die Anschrift.
Bei Beträgen über 300 Euro kann nach Erreichen des Spendenziels eine Spendenbescheinigung ausgestellt werden, darunter reicht ein vereinfachter Nachweis gegenüber dem Finanzamt, wie beispielsweise ein Kontoauszug. Über das „Spendenportal“ auf der städtischen Internetseite www.kassel.de/spende-public- daycare bietet die Stadtverwaltung auch einen entsprechenden Online-Zugang an.

Über die Stadt Kassel
Kassel ist mit etwa 205.000 Einwohnerinnen und Einwohnern die größte Stadt in der Mitte Deutschlands. Rund 111.000 sozialversicherungspflichtige Beschäftigte sind am Wirtschaftsstandort tätig. Gut 25.000 Menschen studieren an der Universität.
Kassel ist die Stadt der documenta, der weltweit bedeutendsten Ausstellung zeitgenössischer Kunst, der Brüder Grimm und des UNESCO-Welterbes Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe mit dem Herkules, dem weithin sichtbaren Wahrzeichen der Stadt. Rund 3.500 Menschen sind direkt bei der Stadtverwaltung beschäftigt. Zudem ist die Stadt an weiteren großen Unternehmen beteiligt, darunter die Gesundheit Nordhessen Holding sowie die Kasseler Verkehrs- und Versorgungs-GmbH mit dem Verkehrsunternehmen KVG und dem Energieversorger Städtische Werke AG.

Stadt Kassel http://www.kassel.de
Pressestelle presse@kassel.de
Telefon 0561 787 1231
Rathaus, 34112 Kassel

After documenta is before documenta: While the financial close of documenta fifteen is still being finalized, preparations are underway for the next documenta (June 12 to September 19, 2027): In the spirit of a transparent process that builds on the knowledge gained from valuable experience, the documenta 16 search committee will be made up of former Artistic Directions of documenta exhibitions. For this purpose, Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André invites to a process starting at short notice. Rudi Fuchs (documenta 7, 1982), Catherine David (documenta X, 1997), Roger M. Buergel (documenta 12, 2007), Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (documenta 13, 2012) and Adam Szymczyk (documenta 14, 2017) are expected to attend a kick-off meeting in Kassel before the end of December 2022. The goal is to set up the documenta 16 search committee in spring 2023 so that it can name an Artistic Direction for documenta 16 by spring 2024.

Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André has been appointed interim managing director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH as of October 1, 2022. This has now been announced by documenta Supervisory Board Chairman and Lord Mayor of Kassel Christian Geselle. Prior to the decision, the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse, as shareholders of documenta gGmbH, had reached an agreement on the appointment of the new interim managing director. Geselle subsequently informed the members of the Supervisory Board of the decision.

“When one documenta ends another begins. Dr. von Saint André is now to manage the company as interim managing director. With a view to documenta 16, a long-term appointment will of course be made,” explained Lord Mayor Geselle.

Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André is 50 years of age, married and a father of three children. He holds a doctorate in law and most recently spent around six years as managing director at the Stiftung Gebäudeensemble Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium Templin—a large, European school project. As legal counsel and head of the contracts department, he also worked at the Federal Cultural Foundation from 2006 to 2014. He is therefore no stranger to “modern cultural administration”: “I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the shareholders and the Supervisory Board at documenta gGmbH. I very much look forward to my time in Kassel and the challenging task ahead. documenta is something particularly close to my heart.”

Portraitphoto of Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André for Download

credits: documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Dr. Ferdinand von Saint André, Photo: Nicolas Wefers, 2022.

A total of over 738,000 visitors—sustainability and accessibility as central concerns

After 100 exhibition days, a third Meydan weekend, and several activations by the artists, documenta fifteen came to a successful close yesterday (Sunday). At 738,000 the number of visitors exceeded organizers' expectations. In line with current developments in the tourism and events industry, the number of group bookings marginally fell short of original expectations, but a slight increase in the number of season ticket holders was posted.

On exhibition space totaling more than 25,000 square meters, over 1,500 artists at 32 exhibition venues invited visitors to immerse themselves in lumbung practice. Events and activations were an integral part of documenta fifteen. Thus, over 1,700 events by the participating artists and their invited actors took place during the runtime. The opening weekend along with the packed Meydan program, concentrated over three weekends, was attended by a total of some 38,000 people.

Following the lumbung practice, two urgent current topics loomed large in the way documenta fifteen sees itself: Sustainability was taken seriously with regard to socio-economic and ecological concerns: Through the so-called “sustainability euro,” which was included in the ticket, 375,000 euros in donations were generated for the reforestation of the Reinhardswald forest near to the City of Kassel and for ecological enrichment on Sumatra in Indonesia. Recycled materials dominated the infrastructure and exhibition design. Merchandise and print products focused on sustainable and regional products. For the first time, the ticket included travel on public transport. In the ongoing process, standards of responsible use of resources were consistently considered.

Accessibility was another central concern. Based on lumbung values such as generosity and solidarity, documenta fifteen offered the so-called Soli-Ticket, which was intended to give as many people as possible access to the exhibition: By purchasing it at the regular ticket price, visitors gave another person free access to the exhibition. This ticket format, designed to increase accessibility, was well received; the Soli-Ticket was purchased a total of over 3,500 times and redeemed just as often. Accessibility has been seriously pursued by documenta fifteen as a continuous optimization process. Additional barriers were reduced and standards set via the website, Walks & Stories, and the exhibition accompanying booklet in easy language.

For the Artistic Direction, ruangrupa, the documenta fifteen exhibition in Kassel is a stage on their lumbung journey: “In the spirit of a sustainable process of learning from and with each other, we asked all the invited actors of documenta fifteen to continue their local practice and find a translation of it to Kassel. The results of this process formed the documenta fifteen exhibition. lumbung #1—as we also call the exhibition internally—is now closed, but the lumbung practice will live on after the 100 exhibition days. With independent self-organized platforms such as the lumbung.space website, the lumbung Gallery and lumbung Kios, we have created structures that will continue to be at the disposal of the lumbung network. We would like to take the opportunity to thank all those involved: the artists and collectives, the Kassel Ekosistem, the team of documenta fifteen and documenta gGmbH as well as the sobat-sobat and guards and all the others who have supported the project documenta fifteen with their heart and soul.”

Managing Director Alexander Farenholtz sees the number of visitors as a success: “In view of the antisemitism debate that accompanied it, this documenta did not have an easy time placing its actual artistic concerns. I wish that when we look back at the exhibition we could also see it through the eyes of the many visitors: namely, as an artistic endeavor that addresses key issues of our time. To my mind, reaching visitor numbers only about 17 percent below those of documenta 14 in 2017 should be considered a success given the event was planned and executed under pandemic conditions with the associated drop in long-distance and group travel.”

Digitally, documenta fifteen was also highly attended. The website was visited by a total of almost 700,000 unique visitors from 115 countries. The social media channel with the widest reach, Instagram, reached around 65,000 followers, and the Newsletter at its last count recorded around 29,500 subscribers.

Those wishing to immerse themselves once again in impressions of the lumbung process in the exhibition retrospective can continue to follow a good 30 specially produced videos on central themes of documenta fifteen and artistic contributions, as well as the archived livestream events, in the documenta fifteen media library.

Further figures in detail and demographic data

Over 15,150 season tickets (d 14 = 14,500) were sold. A total of around 5,250 Walks & Stories were offered, attended by around 78,700 participants. 33,000 schoolchildren in group tours visited documenta fifteen and around 4,600 representatives of the press were accredited.

Around one-third (31.7 percent) of the public came from abroad and representing 86 countries around the world. Over 40 percent of visitors were aged between 15 and 40. The age group between 20 and 40 was most strongly represented.
According to initial survey results, the majority of visitors rated their visit to documenta fifteen as good to very good. Thus, 57.4 percent of respondents gave documenta fifteen an overall rating of 1 or 2 (on a scale of 1 – very good to 5 – very poor). A further 30.1 percent gave it a 3. The representative visitor survey, which is expected in October, will provide information on further demographic data and visitor satisfaction.

The days posting the most visitors continued to be Saturday, followed by Friday, Tuesday, and Sunday; the most popular exhibition venues were the Fridericianum and documenta Halle, followed by Hallenbad Ost, Hübner-Areal, Grimmwelt, and St. Kunigundis Church.

The publications developed together with Hatje Cantz, including the 320-page Handbook and the family guide Walking, finding, sharing, will remain available as e-books in the future, even after physical copies have sold out.


Yesterday, Sunday, September 25, 2022, the dates for documenta 16 were announced in line with tradition by Christian Geselle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Lord Mayor of the City of Kassel. documenta 16 will run from June 12 to September 19, 2027.

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Der Aufsichtsrat und die Gesellschafter der documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, das Land Hessen und die Stadt Kassel, danken der Fachwissenschaftlichen Begleitung, die die Gesellschafter der documenta zur Aufarbeitung antisemitischer Vorkommnisse auf der documenta fifteen eingesetzt haben, für ihre erste Analyse und die bis hierhin geleistete Arbeit. Die Gesellschafter schließen sich dem Votum der Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler an, wonach die Tokyo Reels des Kollektivs Subversive Films nicht mehr gezeigt werden sollen, mindestens bis eine angemessene Kontextualisierung vorgenommen wurde. Die aktuelle Kommentierung der Filme ist dazu nicht geeignet, da sie die teils antisemitischen und terroristische Gewalt verherrlichenden Propagandafilme gerade nicht historisch einordnet.

Die Freiheit der Kunst ist ein hohes Gut und die exklusive künstlerische Verantwortung der documenta fifteen liegt bei ruangrupa. Die Kuratorinnen und Kuratoren weigern sich jedoch, die damit verbundene Verantwortung wahrzunehmen oder in eine selbstkritische Reflexion der Ereignisse zu gehen. Sie werfen im Gegenteil dem wissenschaftlich breit aufgestellten und renommierten Fachwissenschaftlichen Gremium mit seiner interdisziplinären Expertise Rassismus und Unwissenschaftlichkeit vor. Diese Vorwürfe weisen wir auf das Schärfste zurück.

Wir bedauern und kritisieren, dass die Künstlerische Leitung entgegen der Beratung durch die Fachwissenschaftliche Begleitung und dringliche Empfehlung durch die Gesellschafter auf die Fortsetzung der Vorführung der Tokyo Reels des Kollektivs Subversive Films besteht, ohne dass eine kritische Einordnung der antisemitischen und gewaltverherrlichenden Inhalte erfolgt. Der Aufsichtsrat und die Gesellschafter betrachten es als notwendig, dass den Besucherinnen und Besuchern der documenta eine solche Einordnung zur Verfügung gestellt wird. Wir bitten deshalb die Künstlerische Leitung, die einhellige Einschätzung der Fachwissenschaftlichen Begleitung in der Ausstellung ergänzend zur eigenen Kontextualisierung sichtbar zu machen. Alternativ behalten sich die Gesellschafter vor, diese Informationen außerhalb der Ausstellungsräume im Öffentlichen Raum am Zugang zu den Vorführungsorten für die Besucherinnen und Besucher zur Verfügung zu stellen.

The Finding Committee for the Artistic Direction of documenta fifteen expresses its support for the recent statement of ruangrupa, lumbung members, and contributing artists. The pressures that media and politicians have placed on the entire documenta team have become unbearable. We want to defend their extraordinary hard work and commitment with this statement.

We reject both the poison of antisemitism and its current instrumentalization, which is being done to deflect criticism of the 21st century Israeli state and its occupation of Palestinian territory. At the same time, we embrace documenta fifteen’s pluralism and the possibility to hear such a rich diversity of artistic voices from across the world for the first time. We defend the right of artists and their work to rethink, expose, and criticize political formulas and fixed patterns of thought. We believe this right is something to be cherished by those in public life who make exhibitions like documenta possible.

We continue to stand behind our selection of ruangrupa as the Artistic Direction for documenta fifteen, as we have throughout the entire process of its development and realization. We celebrate the hundreds of thousands of visitors who have seen, visited, and been enriched by the exhibition. We believe their voice should also be heard. We applaud the artists who have been resilient in the face of attacks on their integrity and have remained true to the principles of lumbung. We ask the supervisory board to ensure that documenta fifteen can remain open in its entirety until the planned end of the exhibition. We believe any failure to do so, and a capitulation to political interference, will be judged very harshly by history.

Signed, the Finding Committee:

Amar Kanwar, Charles Esche, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Frances Morris, Gabi Ngcobo, Jochen Volz, Philippe Pirotte, Ute Meta Bauer

Die Gesellschafter der documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, das Land Hessen und die Stadt Kassel, danken der Fachwissenschaftlichen Begleitung, die die Gesellschafter der documenta zur Aufarbeitung antisemitischer Vorkommnisse auf der documenta fifteen eingesetzt haben, für ihre erste Analyse und die bis hierhin geleistete Arbeit.

Die Gesellschafter schließen sich dem Votum der Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler an, wonach die Tokyo Reels des Kollektivs Subversive Film nicht mehr gezeigt werden sollen, mindestens bis eine angemessene Kontextualisierung vorgenommen wurde. Die aktuelle Kommentierung der Filme ist dazu nicht geeignet, da sie die teils antisemitischen und terroristische Gewalt verherrlichenden Propagandafilme gerade nicht historisch einordnet.

We have been appointed by the shareholders of documenta gGmbH as a scientific advisory panel to analyze those works that have been identified or discussed as anti-Semitic, examine how documenta fifteen has dealt with incidents of anti-Semitism, and develop proposals on how to prevent similar occurrences in future. Due to the ongoing controversy surrounding individual exhibits there is a particular urgency for consultation on specific problematic works. We have therefore now already submitted to the shareholders an initial assessment by the panel on this issue. This assessment relates to a work over which consensus prevails within the body as to the need for immediate action. More detailed analysis on the organizational structures of the Artistic Direction and on other works will follow at a later date.

At the level of the exhibited works, the most urgent task, in the panel's view, is to stop the screening of the compilation of pro-Palestinian propaganda films from the 1960s-1980s by the collective "Subversive Film," shown under the name "Tokyo Reels Film Festival." What is highly problematic about this work are not only the film documents laced with anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist fragments, but also the artists' comments inserted between the films, where the hatred of Israel and the glorification of terrorism featured in the source material is legitimized through their uncritical discussion. The historical propaganda material is not critically reflected upon – as it doubtless should be – but affirmed as a purportedly objective factual report. As a result, the films pose a greater danger in their potentially inciteful impact than the already removed "People's Justice" work. Many of the films present Israel and its armed forces exclusively as perpetrators who deliberately attack civilians, especially women and children. By contrast, the Palestinian side is portrayed as innocent and defenseless. The repeated terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians are not mentioned here – nor in the entire exhibition – nor is the fact that Israel has been regularly attacked by the armies of Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Moreover, the one-sided negative portrayal of Israel turns into open anti-Semitism on several occasions. To cite but one example: Israel is accused of being "fascist" in nature and of carrying out "genocide" against the Palestinians – it is thus equated with National Socialist Germany. Equating Israeli policies with those of the Nazis in this way must be judged as anti-Semitic, for example, according to the definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which has been adopted by many nations, including some countries of the Global South. Also problematic is the genesis of the work. According to the documenta website, Masao Adachi played a role in entrusting Subversive Film with the film reels. Adachi was a member of the Japanese Red Army and collaborated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, two groups that carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli and other civilians, including the 1972 Lod Airport massacre where 26 people were murdered. A possible resumption of screenings of the films would only be conceivable if they were contextualized in a way that clarified the propaganda nature of the films, clearly identified their anti-Semitic elements, and corrected historical misrepresentations.

The panel is aware that documenta fifteen is exhibiting a multitude of outstanding and inspiring art works that it cannot take into consideration in its work. Its task consists of examining a selection of the works for their anti-Semitic content and clarifying why they are or were exhibited at documenta fifteen.

We have been appointed by the shareholders of documenta gGmbH as a scientific advisory panel to analyze those works that have been identified or discussed as anti-Semitic, examine how documenta fifteen has dealt with incidents of anti-Semitism, and develop proposals on how to prevent similar occurrences in future. Due to the ongoing controversy surrounding individual exhibits and documenta fifteen as a whole, there is a particular urgency for consultation on these issues. We have therefore submitted to the shareholders an initial assessment by the Undersigned Members of the Panel, which is more comprehensive in some respects than the statement by the panel as a whole.

1. At the Level of Exhibited Works, Film and Archive Materials.
At the level of the exhibited works, the most urgent task, in the panel's view, is to stop the screening of the compilation of pro-Palestinian propaganda films from the 1960s-1980s by the collective "Subversive Film," shown under the name "Tokyo Reels Film Festival." What is highly problematic about this work are not only the film documents laced with anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist fragments, but also the artists' comments inserted between the films, where the hatred of Israel and the glorification of terrorism featured in the source material is legitimized through their uncritical discussion. The historical propaganda material is not critically reflected upon – as it doubtless should be – but affirmed as a purportedly objective factual report. As a result, the films pose a greater danger in their potentially inciteful impact than the already removed "People's Justice" work.

Many of the films present Israel and its armed forces exclusively as perpetrators who deliberately attack civilians, especially women and children. By contrast, the Palestinian side is portrayed as innocent and defenseless. The repeated terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians are not mentioned here – nor in the entire exhibition – nor is the fact that Israel has been regularly attacked by the armies of Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Moreover, the one-sided negative portrayal of Israel turns into open anti-Semitism on several occasions. To cite but one example: Israel is accused of being "fascist" in nature and of carrying out "genocide" against the Palestinians – it is thus equated with National Socialist Germany. Equating Israeli policies with those of the Nazis in this way must be judged as anti-Semitic, for example, according to the definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which has been adopted by many nations, including some countries of the Global South. Also problematic is the genesis of the work. According to the documenta website, Masao Adachi played a role in entrusting Subversive Film with the film reels. Adachi was a member of the Japanese Red Army and collaborated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, two groups that carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli and other civilians, including the 1972 Lod Airport massacre where 26 people were murdered. A possible resumption of screenings of the films would only be conceivable if they were contextualized in a way that clarified the propaganda nature of the films, clearly identified their anti-Semitic elements, and corrected historical misrepresentations.

In the view of the Undersigned Members of the Panel, the "Tokyo Reels Film Festival" is the most glaring example of documenta fifteen's bias with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict which is dealt with by a comparatively large number of works. Almost all these works express attitudes that range from critically biased to decidedly anti-Israeli. These attitudes are reflected in the pictorial representations and statements, which can be judged as anti-Semitic according to commonly accepted criteria. This becomes particularly evident when the existence of Israel is questioned or denied in the works. From this perspective, the Undersigned Members of the Panel consider it necessary to examine the series of works "Guernica Gaza" and documents from the Archives des luttes des femmes en Algérie. The analysis of these and other works – among others by Taring Padi – is still ongoing. More detailed statements will be made available to the shareholders at a later date.

2. At the Level of the Artistic Direction
In the view of the Undersigned Members of the Panel, the described bias of the presented positions on the Arab-Israeli conflict cannot be attributed to the individual artists, but is a consequence of a curatorial concept of the Artistic Direction, which deliberately refrained from control over the compilation and presentation of the exhibition. This in principle welcome dialogical and cooperative approach, however, does not change the overall curatorial responsibility of ruangrupa. The Artistic Direction alone had the opportunity to look at the exhibition from an overall perspective. Even if it may have deliberately refrained from such an overview, it remains responsible for the entire exhibition. As a result, the Artistic Direction is responsible for a documenta in which anti-Semitic works were exhibited and Israel and Israelis appear exclusively as perpetrators and aggressors. The impression of a curatorial imbalance is reinforced by the fact that the exhibition does not give any scope for debate on National Socialism and the Shoah and their consequences, nor to Jewish perspectives on the Middle East conflict, and by the fact that the Artistic Direction has always associated its own political project with the curation. We also find problematic the Artistic Direction's failure to grapple with the anti-Semitic incidents, the criticism of which is discredited as "censorship".

3. At the Level of documenta Organization Also at the level of the documenta organization, the Undersigned Members of the Panel are of the opinion that the procedural processes and communication in response to the discussions are inadequate if not counterproductive. For dealing with problematic works, documenta does not seem to have a procedure in place that goes beyond examining the culpability of an exhibit. The documenta organization does not seem to be set up to mediate in the event of internal or public criticism of the project or the Artistic Direction. The Undersigned find it particularly regrettable that documenta management failed to enter into a sustained dialogue with representatives of the Jewish community in Germany after the events began.

Taking these three levels together, it becomes clear that the serious problems of documenta fifteen exist not only in the presentation of isolated works featuring anti-Semitic imagery and statements, but also in a curatorial and organizational structural environment that allowed an anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israel sentiment.

Signatories:
Nicole Deitelhoff (Chair)
Julia Bernstein
Marina Chernivsky
Peter Jelavich
Christoph Möllers

On Saturday, August 6, 2022, documenta fifteen reached the halfway point of its 100-day run. By the 50th day, more than 410,000 visitors had visited documenta fifteen at 32 exhibition venues enjoying works by more than 1,500 artists. This means documenta fifteen's interim figures are close to those of the previous edition that boasted the hitherto highest number of visitors, and this despite the Covid-19 pandemic: documenta 14 was visited by 445,000 people during the first half of its run in Kassel.

At documenta fifteen, around over 25,000 schoolchildren were addressed in class groups during so-called School Walks and School Workshops (at the halfway point of documenta 14, 20,000 schoolchildren had already been addressed).

In addition, more than 14,600 season ticket holders followed the activities of documenta fifteen particularly closely.

In keeping with lumbung values such as generosity and solidarity, documenta fifteen is offering the solidarity ticket for the first time in documenta history, which is intended to give as many people as possible access to the exhibition: By purchasing it at the regular ticket price, one provides free access to the exhibition for one additional person. The solidarity ticket has already been purchased over 3,000 times and has been very well received.

So far, around 36,000 visitors have taken part in the Walks and Stories section – how the guided tours by the sobat-sobat art educators are called. That is almost 20,000 less than at documenta 14, where there were already 54,000 at the halfway point. From the point of view of documenta gGmbH, this drop is probably mainly due to the Covid-related impacts on the business and group travel market.

According to the first interim results of the visitor survey, the ratio of visits from Germany to those from abroad, at around 70/30 percent, seems to roughly correspond to the result of documenta 14, at 65/35 percent.

The days of documenta fifteen with the highest number of visitors were Saturdays, followed by Fridays. Tuesdays were also better attended than other weekdays. The most frequented venues were Fridericianum, documenta Halle, Hallenbad Ost and Hübner Areal.

Events and activations are an integral part of documenta fifteen. As part of the lumbung and ruruHaus program, more than 830 events by participating artists and their cooperation partners have already taken place during the runtime. Meydan, with its packed program concentrated on three weekends of the runtime, had its successful kick-off from July 8–10, 2022 in the city center. Meydan #2 will take place next weekend, August 12–14, 2022, in cooperation with the Schlachthof Cultural Center and will present a series of concerts and events as well as the GDR International film program at the Gloria cinema.

The Artistic Direction ruangrupa as well as the artistic team are pleased that they have already been able to involve so many people with the community-oriented documenta fifteen: they see Kassel and documenta fifteen as an important stop for all participants on their joint lumbung journey: "The lumbung community has already begun to connect with Kassel's urban society and its multitude of different communities, but also with the ekosistems of the artists in other places, in the ruruHaus before the opening. We wish that documenta fifteen can run its course until September 25 with all the activities that we – ruangrupa, the artistic team, artists and cooperation partners – have planned for it with the involved ekosistems. Together, we want to trigger impulses that can create sustainable changes in thinking and acting for all guests and participants even beyond the 100 days. The working groups, such as lumbung Gallery, lumbung Kios, lumbung.space and lumbung Radio are also working intensively on this. We would like to already now express our great appreciation and gratitude to all the visitors, artists, team, supporters, and partners."

In order to strengthen documenta fifteen as a place of mutual learning and understanding, the Artistic Direction is currently adding contextualizations in various formats to several works in the exhibition. This process has already been initiated and will be successively continued.

In addition, the intended bilingualism (English / German) in the exhibition will be increasingly pursued by adding more label and wall texts in German to increase the accessibility of the contributions.

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Seven scholars with outstanding academic expertise in the fields of antisemitism, perspectives from global contexts and post-colonialism, art and constitutional law will advise documenta in the coming months. The committee will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff, executive board member of the Leibniz Institute “Peace Research Institute Frankfurt” (HSFK) and executive spokesperson of the “Research Institute for Social Cohesion” (FGZ). This was announced by the shareholders of documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. In the light of the antisemitic incidents the Supervisory Board has agreed on July 15, 2022 to adopt several measures, including a scientific advisory panel. The aim is to ensure that documenta continues to enjoy its worldwide unique status as an exhibition for contemporary art in Kassel.

The proposal for the appointment of the advisory panel was developed by Angela Dorn, Hessian Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts, and Dr. Susanne Völker, Head of the Cultural Department of the City of Kassel on behalf of the shareholders of documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. The Supervisory Board approved the proposal and recommended it to the shareholdersʼ meeting, which also confirmed it.

“We would like to thank the scientists who make their scientific expertise available at such short notice. For such top-class researchers, this is by no means natural, as they have numerous other obligations,” explained Kasselʼs Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of documenta, his deputy on the Supervisory Board, Angela Dorn, and Head of the Cultural Department Dr. Susanne Völker.

The scientists are responsible for the first review of the processes, structures and receptions around the documenta fifteen. They should make recommendations for the overhaul of documenta structures and discuss which aspects might require a more in-depth scientific analysis. They will also discuss possible further antisemitic imagery and language as well as works already identified as antisemitic. They will present their results to the Supervisory Board and the shareholders. To start a dialogue the results will be made then available to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and the curators. The freedom of arts is protected, the curatorial responsibility remains the explicit task of the Artistic Direction ruangrupa. “We have brought together scientists with very different perspectives and from very different disciplines to foster a constructive, multi-perspective dialogue and, through that, advance a process that will give us as shareholders important and independent impulses for the necessary changes in the future. There will probably also be discussions about how to deal with what happened and how to react to some works of art where no uniform assessment within the advisory panel can be reached. It is crucial that the different viewpoints are transparent and enter into a dialogue with one another,” Geselle and Dorn added.

“With the recommendation for scientific support, the supervisory board has clearly positioned itself to effectively combat antisemitism and other group-focused forms of hostility in arts and culture. Taking into account the constitutionally protected freedom of art, we expect that references to possible antisemitic imagery and the promotion of Israel-related antisemitism will be thoroughly looked after,” underlines Christian Geselle, Mayor of Kassel, speaking in his role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

„The reoccurring antisemitic motifs seen at documenta fifteen demonstrate the continuous actuality and reproduction of antisemitism. It is therefore essential, that the antisemitic incidences and the related reception and events are reviewed and examined by the scientific advisory panel. The scientific analysis of other works with regard to antisemitic motifs will be of utter importance to us shareholders in the coming weeks. On this basis long lasting lessons for dealing with antisemitic incidences in art and culture can be drawn and thus have an effect beyond documenta. Coming to terms with what has happened and learning for the future might help to regain the trust lost in the past few weeks,” says Angela Dorn.

“The loss of trust around the incidences of antisemitic motifs overshadow this documenta and put it into a different light. Our aim is now to engage in a factful and thorough discourse and mutual dialogue to restore trust. In a variety of artistic projects, documenta fifteen poses the essential questions of our time. A science based and sophisticated review of the antisemitic incidents and their contexts is necessary and at the same time will also make it possible to open up for the artworks at the documenta again,” explains Dr. Susanne Völker.

“Our scientific support has a central aim: To research how the antisemitic incidences could have happened and develop recommendations, on how in the context of the running exhibition and beyond it can be dealt with as well as to prevent that it will not happen again,” so the chair, Prof. Dr. Deitelhoff. The advisory panel will be supported in terms of content and organization by Dr. Cord Schmelzle, coordinator of the Frankfurt branch of the FGZ.

The committee will set a special focus beyond document fifteen, as the committee can initiate in-depth scientific studies. The scientific analysis of those works of art at documenta fifteen, that have been hinted to use antisemitic imagery or language, is to be carried out while the exhibition is still running. “The facsimile of the brochure of “Presence des Femmes” and therein shown drawing of the artist Burhan Karkoutly is another item with antisemitic imagery. This shows how important the review is. We, the shareholders, are aware of the great public interest in the findings and recommendations of the advisory panel. However, scientific work requires a certain amount of thoroughness and concentration, which we want to grant. We ask for your understanding that press work will be targeted and members do not want to and will not express themselves publicly and individually,” conclude Geselle and Dorn.

Members of the advisory committee are:

Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff (Chair), Professor of International Relations and Theories of Global Order at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Executive Board Member of the Leibniz Institute “Peace Research Institute Frankfurt” (HSFK) and contact person there for Global Governance, Domination and Resistance in global politics, international criminal justice, international humanitarian law. Executive spokesperson for the “Research Institute for Social Cohesion” (FGZ).

Prof. Dr. Marion Ackermann, Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections; Art historian, Germanist and curator. Scientific focus: Art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Prof. Dr. Julia Bernstein, Professor for Discrimination and Inclusion in the Immigration Society at the Department of Social Work and Health at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. The focus of her work is in the field of antisemitism research and aims to transfer it to educational work in particular. In 2017 she led the qualitative part of the study “Jewish perspectives on antisemitism in Germany,” a study which was carried out on behalf of the second independent expert group on antisemitism. In 2021 she participated in the development of recommendations on dealing with antisemitism in schools by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the federal and state-level commission of antisemitism commissioners and the conference of ministers of education.

Marina Chernivsky, Psychologist and behavioral scientist. She is the founder and Managing Director of the OFEK e.V. counseling center for antisemitic violence and Head of the competence center for prevention and empowerment of the ZWST. She researches (among other things) the history of the impact of National Socialism and antisemitism and is co-director of the study series “Anti-Semitism in the context of schools” of the federal states in cooperation with the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. Until 2017 she was a member of the Second Independent Expert Group on antisemitism and co-editor of the German Bundestag’s second antisemitism report. Since 2019 she has been a member of the advisory committee of the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against antisemitism. Prof. Peter Jelavich, PhD, Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University; Cultural and intellectual history of Europe since the Enlightenment, with an emphasis on Germany. Research focus: Censorship of the arts in Germany since 1890; and German-Jewish cultural history, especially popular culture.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers, Professor of Public Law and Legal Philosophy at Humboldt University in Berlin and Permanent Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg for questions of constitutional law.

Prof. Dr. Facil Tesfaye, Junior Professor at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Hong Kong and visiting fellow at the EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) in Paris. He received his doctorate from McGill University (Montréal/Canada) and previously obtained a masterʼs degree in Political Science from the Université du Quebec à Montréal. He completed his basic studies in African Studies and Political Science at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Expert in German colonial medical history and global contexts.

Other scientists can also be consulted, for example as experts. Among them as a consultant for the constitution of the panel: Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel, Professor of Social Work at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and Director of the Anne Frank Educational Center. Publicist, historian, educator.

Alexander Farenholtz was today unanimously appointed interim Managing Director of documenta by the Supervisory Board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. This decision was announced on Monday by Kassel’s Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, Chairman of the documenta Supervisory Board, and his deputy on the Supervisory Board, Hessian Minister for Science and the Arts Angela Dorn.

documenta’s shareholders are pleased and grateful to have secured such an experienced and renowned cultural manager for the important world art exhibition in Kassel in what is a challenging situation for documenta. Alexander Farenholtz will assume this role as early as Tuesday, July 19. The appointment will initially run for a limited term until September 30, 2022. It is Mr. Farenholtz’s wish, after consultation with the shareholders, to now begin talks first with the Artistic Direction and then, of course, with the documenta gGmbH team.

Mr. Farenholtz has been well acquainted with Kassel and documenta for many years: after completing his studies (Administrative Science in Constance) and his first professional positions, he was appointed Managing Director of documenta GmbH in 1989, among other things for the realization of documenta 9 under the Artistic Direction of Jan Hoet.

In 1993, he moved to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Art as Head of the Minister’s Office and in 1996, together with Tom Stromberg, took charge of the cultural program of the world exhibition EXPO2000 in Hanover.

At the start of 2002, he was appointed Founding Director and Administrative Director of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. He held this office, alongside Hortensia Völckers as Artistic Director, until reaching retirement age in January 2020.

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Download portrait image of Alexander Farenholtz
The photo may be used with the copyright “KSB; Photographer: Falk Wenzel”.

At the meeting of the Supervisory Board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH on Friday, July 15, 2022, unanimous decisions were made by the Supervisory Board and the Shareholdersʼ Meeting against the background of the antisemitism allegations against documenta fifteen and with a view to the future of documenta. In this regard, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, and the Hessian Minister for Science and the Arts, Angela Dorn, as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, declared on behalf of both bodies:

1. The Supervisory Board, the shareholders, and General Manager Dr. Sabine Schormann mutually agreed to terminate her managing director service contract immediately. Initially, an interim successor will be sought.

2. The Supervisory Board expresses its deep consternation that clearly antisemitic motifs were to be seen on the opening weekend of documenta fifteen. The presentation of the banner “Peopleʼs Justice” by the artistsʼ collective Taring Padi with its antisemitic imagery was a clear transgression of boundaries and documenta was thus considerably damaged. In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, it is essential to clear up this incident promptly, to draw conclusions based on scientific findings for dealing with antisemitic incidents in the cultural and art context, and to avert further damage to documenta. A great deal of trust has been lost as a result of the hanging of the banner and also in the course of crisis management in recent weeks. The Supervisory Board considers it essential that everything possible has to be done to regain this trust.

3. The Supervisory Board regards the combat against antisemitism and group-focused enmity in the field of the arts as part of a broader effort in the whole of society. The Supervisory Board reaffirms its expectation that indications of possible antisemitic imagery and the promotion of antisemitism related to the state of Israel be followed up upon while safeguarding the fundamental right to artistic freedom. The Supervisory Board recommends to the shareholders of documenta to enter a process of consultation with scholars from the fields of contemporary antisemitism, German and global contexts, postcolonial studies and the arts. They should take an initial stock of the procedures, structures and reception of and around documenta fifteen, recommend ways of drawing lessons and identify the issues at stake in need of further academic research. Besides this, they will advise in case further antisemitic imagery should come up. The Supervisory Board deems productive an involvement of the artistic direction in the process of consultation and aims to design it conjointly. The Supervisory Board suggests that the finding committee, which has an advisory function vis-à-vis documenta fifteen, should also participate in the process. The Shareholdersʼ Meeting has agreed to this.

4. The Supervisory Board recommends that the Shareholdersʼ Meeting conduct an organizational review of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, subjecting both the structures, including competencies and responsibilities, and the processes to scrutiny. This should bedone in benchmarking with other important art exhibitions and with the help of external experts in order to generate proposals for the further development of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH as soon as possible after documenta fifteen. This too was decided by the Shareholdersʼ Meeting.

5. The City of Kassel and the State of Hesse are united by the common goal of coming to terms with the misconduct in the area of antisemitism and structural deficits, and of doing everything in their power to ensure that documenta retains its unique status as an exhibition of contemporary art in the future. The Supervisory Board advocates that documenta fifteen, as the first documenta curated from the perspective of the so-called “global south” with over 1,500 participating artists, also be valued in its entirety and uniqueness. Precisely because documenta becomes a hub for artists and culture enthusiasts from all over the world every five years, and precisely because it has always been and remains a place of encounter and critical discourse, the Supervisory Board is working together with all those involved to protect documenta in Kassel.

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Antisemitism in the Arts
Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 6.30–8 pm
On site in Kassel and via livestream

An event by Bildungsstätte Anne Frank and documenta gGmbH

About
Antisemitism is a widespread problem throughout society, in Germany and globally. This is now evident in Kassel: Antisemitic imagery at the global documenta fifteen. How could it come to this? What is needed now for not escalating the polarized debate even further? How do we converge the ideas of avoiding censorship and avoiding antisemitic art? The panel dares to attempt a problem diagnosis on antisemitism and the arts, also in relation to the state of Israel – and at documenta fifteen.

Speakers
Prof. Dr. Nikita Dhawan, Professor for Political Theory and the History of Ideas, TU Dresden

Prof. Dr. Doron Kiesel, scientific Director of the Education Department of Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland

Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel, Director of Bildungsstätte Anne Frank

Adam Szymczyk, curator and author, Zürich. He was the artistic director of documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel (2017) and is curator-at-large at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam

Hortensia Völckers, Artistic Director of the German Federal Cultural Foundation

Host
Stefan Koldehoff, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Welcoming address
Angela Dorn, Hessian Minister of Higher Education, Research and the Arts

In German and English with simultaneous translation into English and German as well as German Sign Language.

Location
UK 14 – Untere Karlsstraße 14, 34117 Kassel as well as via livestream

Due to the current developments in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, on-site seating space is highly limited. We kindly ask to follow the event via livestream.

YouTube channel of documenta: https://bit.ly/3OmaeYu
YouTube channel of Bildungsstätte Anne Frank (German livestream only): https://www.youtube.com/c/Bildungsst%C3%A4tteAnneFrank

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documenta has decided, in consultation with various participants, to suspend the series of events planned for May 8, 15, and 22, 2022, We need to talk! Art – Freedom – Solidarity.

documenta will open the exhibition and first let it speak for itself, as a basis for continuing the discussion in a productive manner. At this moment, documenta’s intended goal for the series of talks – to open a multi-perspective dialogue beyond institutional frameworks in the run-up to documenta fifteen – is unfortunately not realizable. It is important to documenta that the thread of this conversation not be cut off. documenta hopes to build on the existing approach to this discussion on site in Kassel during documenta fifteen. This will also provide an opportunity to address concerns that have been publicly expressed in recent days.

documenta would like to thank the panelists for their willingness to participate in the planned series of events We need to talk! Art – Freedom – Solidarity.

Together with Hatje Cantz as partner publishing house, documenta fifteen will be presenting four publications in German and English in June 2022: a handbook, a family guide, a magazine, and an Anthology of literary texts.

The Handbook is a companion to the exhibition, a reference work, and an innovative art guide. It introduces the concept of the exhibition, illuminating central aspects and introducing the protagonists of documenta fifteen. The Family Guide Walking, Finding, Sharing invites visitors to experience in five word-and-image tours the lumbung values of Humor, Local Anchor, Independence, Generosity, and Transparency. The two issues of the magazine majalah lumbung, entitled Harvesting and Sharing, provide a foundation for documenta fifteen in the form of short stories and features by Indonesian authors. Finally, lumbung erzählen (lumbung storytelling) presents seven literary texts by international novelists on collective work and forms of community.

The four publications are centered around documenta fifteen principles – like collectivity, sustainability, and shared resources – not only in terms of content, but also in their production process, appearance, and mode of distribution. Thus, for the Handbook, international authors were invited who are familiar with the respective artistic practice and cultural context of the participants they present. For the anthology lumbung erzählen, seven international publishers have joined forces to make editions in additional languages possible. All four titles are produced sustainably following the guidelines of the “Blue Angel” eco-label and printed on 100% recycled paper with certified ink.

The four publications will be available in bookstores at documenta fifteen in Kassel from June 15, 2022.

More information

We need to talk!
Art – Freedom – Solidarity
Online conversation series
Sundays, May 8, 15, and 22, 2022
2–5 pm (CEST)
In German and English with simultaneous translation
Livestream via YouTube: https://bit.ly/WeNeedToTalk_ArtFreedomSolidarity

We need to talk! Art – Freedom – Solidarity is a series of conversations hosted by documenta and documenta archiv on the role of art and artistic freedom in the face of rising antisemitism, racism, and Islamophobia.

In the run-up to documenta fifteen (June 18 to September 25, 2022), three forums will bring together interlocutors and contributors from the fields of art, politics, and academia to discuss complex challenges in the context of art and culture. The focus will be on Germany’s particular historical responsibility, but also on forms of erasure, zeroing in on the blank spots in the German debate surrounding antisemitism and racism.

Participants are Schirin Amir-Moazami, Omri Boehm, Marina Chernivsky, Manuela Consonni, Nikita Dhawan, Diedrich Diederichsen, Sultan Doughan, Sarah El Bulbeisi, Anselm Franke, Raphael Gross, Teresa Koloma Beck, Meron Mendel, Ben Miller, Nicolas Siepen, Cihan Sinanoğlu, Hito Steyerl, Natan Sznaider, Hannah Tzuberi, Mezna Qato, and Eyal Weizman.

The series is planned as a digital event in German and English with simultaneous translation. It will take place on three consecutive Sundays: May 8, 15, and 22, 2022, from 2 to 5 pm.

We need to talk!
Blank spots 1: Antisemitism and racism in Germany today
Sunday, May 8, 2022, 2–5 pm (CEST)

The discussion explores how and where German and international discourses on antisemitism and racism diverge. In Germany, in light of its historical responsibility for the genocide of European Jews, a specific sensitized discursive culture has developed, in which criticism of the actions of the Israeli state is perceived differently than, for example, in countries of the Global South. How can international cultural institutions in Germany reconcile these two perspectives and enable a productive exchange with artists and civil society?

Introduction: Opening speech “100 Days – 100 Guests,” Edward Said in conversation with Catherine David (documenta 10, 1997)

Speakers: Diedrich Diederichsen and Hito Steyerl
Panel: Marina Chernivsky, Raphael Gross, Teresa Koloma Beck, and Ben Miller
Host: Anselm Franke
Language: In German with simultaneous translation into English and German Sign Language

We need to talk!
Blank spots 2: On the role of antisemitism and anti-antisemitism in postcolonial discourse
Sunday, May 15, 2022, 2–5 pm (CEST)

The event looks at postcolonial approaches, their potentials, and blank spots, to examine the oft-repeated accusation that postcolonial perspectives dissolve or even refute the historical distinctiveness of the Shoah and antisemitism.

Speakers: Meron Mendel and Eyal Weizman
Panel: Omri Boehm, Manuela Consonni, Nikita Dhawan, and Natan Sznaider
Host: Hannah Tzuberi
Language: In English with simultaneous translation into German and International Sign

We need to talk!
Blank spots 3: What is anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism?
Sunday, May 22, 2022, 2–5 pm (CEST)

The debate leading up to documenta fifteen has been permeated by anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian prejudices. This discussion wants to explore these distinct forms of racism, how they manifest themselves in structures, images, and narratives, and how they can be addressed and countered.

Speakers: Sultan Doughan and Mezna Qato
Panel: Sarah El Bulbeisi, Nicolas Siepen, and Cihan Sinanoğlu
Host: Schirin Amir-Moazami
Language: In English with simultaneous translation into German and International Sign

Information on participants and press release for download

Organized by documenta Institut in collaboration with Temporary Gallery. Centre for Contemporary Art

Saturday, February 19, 2022, 6 pm

Live at TRACES Forschungsstation at Lutherkirche, Kassel
And on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/98410599799?pwd=Vm01VTl3M2NTMmZzU3czTUhKYkEzQT09

With Aneta Rostkowska (CCA Temporary Gallery, Cologne), Kris Dittel (independent curator), Aiwen Yin (ReUnion Network / Liquid Dependencies)

Moderator: Mi You

Kinship relations are often thought of as relations of (ancestral) filiation, alliance, love and care, however, they also entail ownership, rights and obligations. Historically, social practices around kinship have variously strengthened or hindered the advance of capitalism. The nuclear family, legally coded and socially performed, is also a relation of production and reproduces capitalism’s inherent structures of domination. From the angle of a radical care, which both encompasses self-care and a relational, if not a collective practice, kinship can be reconfigured to include allyship and protectorship. We will pair our reflections with artistic imaginaries and enactments, such as from the Live-Action Role Playing game Liquid Dependencies. Students from the University of Kassel and Kunsthochschule Kassel will enact the Liquid Dependencies game during the day, a life simulation and a generative social experiment that takes peer-to-peer caring relationships as the cornerstone for a commons-oriented, caring society.

The event is also part of Temporary Gallery’s study group On Kinship. This series of gatherings aims to think collectively about the way we form relations in and with the world, outside of the nuclear family structure. The meetings take place monthly, online. Each session is led by an invited guest, including artists, thinkers, poets, activists.

Temporary Gallery receives structural support from the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne and Deltax contemporary, Wirtschafts- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH. Kris Dittel is a 2022 Medienkunstfellow NRW.

The documenta Institut is being established in cooperation between the State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, and the University of Kassel together with the Kunsthochschule and with financial support for the construction project provided by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. As part of the development of the documenta Institut, three tenure-track professorships in the departments of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape Planning and Social Sciences have been appointed with funding from the state of Hesse.

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documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH is delighted to announce that Moritz Wesseler’s tenure as Director of the Fridericianum has been extended by its Supervisory Board to 2027.

Since 2019 Wesseler has presented in Kassel highly acclaimed solo exhibitions by artists who previously had not been offered a broad platform in Germany in an institutional context – such as Ron Nagle, Rachel Rose or Tarek Atoui. With this specific focus he consolidates and enhances the status of the North Hessian metropolis as a location for artistic and creative innovation and experimentation.

A further focal point of his activities is the elaboration and implementation of retrospective exhibitions on historical stances. For instance, the to date most comprehensive show on the creativity of the “visionary painter” Forrest Bess presented an artistic position that is of great relevance for numerous artists as well as for the pressing socio-political discourses of the present.

The various exhibition projects are accompanied by multifaceted educational and event programs tailored to different ages and interest groups. These are held in the form of guided tours, lectures or workshops at the Fridericianum, as well as via podcasts and interview or documentary films in the digital space. The institution’s activities are thus made even more visible on an international level and sustainably rooted in people’s consciousness. This phenomenon could be seen, for example, on US election day 2020 in the illumination of the Fridericianum by filmmaker and painter Trisha Baga, which received attention far beyond Germany’s borders.

Currently, the Kunsthalle is presenting solo exhibitions by the artists Toba Khedoori and Martine Syms. For the period following documenta fifteen, Wesseler is planning, amongst other things, to leverage the building and adjacent Friedrichsplatz even more comprehensively with site-specific interventions such as the so-called “green Greta” by Alexandra Bircken, in parallel to diverse and international exhibitions.

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At today’s meetings, the Supervisory Board and shareholders of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH decided that documenta fifteen can take place in Kassel as planned from June 18 to September 25, 2022. The committees reported comprehensively on the feasibility of the exhibition in light of developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the infrastructural challenges and variables influencing the realization of the curatorial concept.

Since spring 2020, the planning of documenta fifteen has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and has already required numerous adaptations. For example, the worldwide studio visits and working meetings with the Artistic Direction and international artists and groups took place exclusively in the digital space for almost a year and a half. The mutual exchange and site-specific development of projects, which are important to the concept of ruangrupa, were thus rendered more difficult. Nevertheless, planning is progressing, both in terms of the selection of individual exhibition venues and the preparations of artistic positions. Safety and hygiene are a constant consideration—from the choice of sufficiently large indoor and outdoor locations to digital solutions for guiding visitors and supporting the visitor experience. ruangrupa’s curatorial concept, which is based on a comprehensive approach to sustainability, accommodates these developments so that in many respects new things can emerge from the crisis.

Commenting on the decision, Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Lord Mayor of the City of Kassel, Christian Geselle, said: “After careful consideration of the opportunities and risks, the Supervisory Board has come to the conclusion that staging documenta fifteen in 2022 is important, even under possible continuing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in these still uncertain times. In particular, the curatorial concept of ruangrupa offers opportunities to respond to current events and to question the familiar. I would like to let visitors from Kassel and around the world know that we are looking forward to their visit. We will respond to any developments in the COVID-19 pandemic with a comprehensive set of measures to ensure a safe stay in Kassel. The shareholders, the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse are prepared to compensate for possible additional costs or reduced revenues incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More important than aiming for new attendance records, the goal is to send a signal of hope emanating from culture.”

“The Supervisory Board and shareholders have decided to pursue a joint course of action ensuring that documenta fifteen will take place in 2022 and that we will tackle the associated challenges together,” added Angela Dorn, Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board and Hesse’s Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts. “We take pandemic developments very seriously and are taking precautions to safeguard the world art exhibition. Uncertainty is something that will continue to be with us. Here, I see enormous potential for the upcoming documenta to bring about a change toward more sustainability in a comprehensive sense, in economy, knowledge production, and cooperation—also in dealing with the global pandemic, because like every documenta, this one will also be a reflection of its time. ruangrupa has made the lumbung concept its principle. Originating in rural areas of Indonesia, this practice centers around storing the harvest in a communal rice barn and using it for the common good. I am confident that all of us, the many people involved in the documenta team, artists and visitors alike, can work together to enrich our society in this way.”

“For us in ruangrupa, we always imagined and considered throughout the entire process that documenta fifteen would take place in 2022. ruangrupa intends to lay a journey of how a contemporary art event of this the scale can be executed while being relevant to the times we are living in. Like almost everyone in the last year and a half, we have been forced to work, collaborate, and make decisions largely through digital exchange. For our type of practices, which are heavily dependent on building affinities through spending time together in physical proximity, today’s conditions were almost unimaginable before. But this pandemic has also put forward the importance of being local. By being honest and transparent to the global conditions that documenta fifteen has been prepared under, we are working together with diverse models, struggles, and examples, showing that the practice of lumbung is more timely than ever,” says Ade Darmawan, Member of ruangrupa, the Artistic Direction.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, which has broken (infra-)structures, conventions, and habits since its outbreak, is an occasion for a comprehensive re-think on exhibitions of documenta’s scale. We can achieve a great deal if we move forward courageously and allow this documenta to assert itself amid a situation of ongoing uncertainty. I see an opportunity here for a new approach to sustainability in the arts and culture sector, and I am very pleased to be able to help shape it,” states Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH.

The Supervisory Board’s recommendation that the fifteenth edition of documenta takes place as scheduled in 2022 is also supported by the documenta fifteen Finding Committee (documenta Committee), which met in advance of today’s meeting. The Finding Committee emphasizes that the curatorial practice of ruangrupa represents an apt response to the urgencies of our time; it is rooted in life and process-oriented, and therefore has the power to take on moments of uncertainty.

The resolution of the shareholders’ meeting is still to be confirmed by a resolution of the municipal council of the City of Kassel.

Ticket sales for documenta fifteen will start via Ticketmaster at the end of September 2021. Further exhibition venues as well as individual steps in the field of sustainability will be communicated over the coming months.

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Martine Syms: Aphrodite’s Beasts
July 3, 2021 – January 9, 2022
Opening: Saturday, July 3, 2021, 11 am – 7 pm
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel

Press Preview: Thursday, July 1, 2021, 11.30 am
Speakers:
Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
Moritz Wesseler, Director of the Fridericianum

Born in 1988 in Los Angeles, Martine Syms has, in the last few years, emerged as one of the central and indeed defining figures in the recent international discourse on art and culture. In her interdisciplinary practice, which spans film, photography, installation, performance, and writing, the artist explores manifold, compelling questions in order to map out new perspectives on life and society. Through precise observation and in-depth research, Syms addresses the representation and reception of US-American identities and cultures, the theories and realities of feminism, conditions of interpersonal communication, and the impact of digital media on everyday life. Characterized by both conceptual and pop approaches, her work displays a distinct sense of humor without diminishing its urgency and relevance. Specifically developed for Kassel, the exhibition Aphrodite’s Beasts presents a comprehensive overview of the artist’s practice in Germany for the first time. Forming the backbone of the show are three film works that at times bear the stamp of expansive installations. Ugly Plymouths, a work created in 2020, introduces the exhibition. On three large flat screens mounted on poles, brief, sometimes intimate footage of everyday life in Los Angeles is used to narrate a one-act play whose title picks up on a phrase from the poem Hollywood by Beat poet Bob Kaufman (1925–1986). Syms’s protagonists are Hot Dog, Doobie, and Le Que Sabe, whose voices overlay the film singly or in conversation and speak of their daily concerns, promises, and temptations. Their utterances reference the form and content of text and voice messages of the digital age, revealing the simultaneous possibility and impossibility of communication and social interaction. Ugly Plymouths has strong immersive qualities, not least through the accumulation of sound and moving image and its embedding in a space flooded with red light.

In contrast, the work Lesson LXXV, realized in 2017, generates an entirely different effect. Presented in an endless loop, the silent film shows the artist in three-quarter profile against a plain black background. In the sequence, which lasts for only a few seconds, milk pours down Syms’s face, hairline, thin braids, and torso. Occasionally, the blinking of her down-turned eyes can be made out, while on her chin, smaller and larger drops repeatedly follow gravity or seemingly defy the Earth’s pull. Despite the barely perceptible action, a silent power is exuded by the image, recalling depictions of icons. However, the starting point of Lesson LXXV is a more secular theme. Here, the artist refers to the demonstrations against racist violence in the United States and other parts of the world, where protestors often pour milk over their faces to relieve the pain caused by the deployment of tear gas. The work thus suggests a highly political impetus that, due to its specific formulation, potentially offers a timeless appeal to humanity. At the same time, Syms contextualizes her production within art history by presenting the film on a flat screen mounted horizontally atop a cuboid sitting on the floor referencing Minimal Art. Running counter to the standard palette of the prominent art movement of the 1960s, the cuboid and adjacent windows are rendered in a deep purple, alluding to the women’s movement, Alice Walker’s 1982 novel The Color Purple,and the hue’s manifold meanings within the LGBTQIA community.

Just as Syms positions herself at the center of Lesson LXXV, acting as the conveyor of a message, she also takes on the role of protagonist in the film DED, completed in 2021. Thus, in the approximately sixteen-minute work presented as a screen projection, she appears in the form of an avatar created using a 3D scan of her body. Against the backdrop of an unfathomably vast space structured only by a horizon line, the viewer experiences Syms undergoing a constant alternation between life and death, resurrection and demise. Sometimes she dies as a result of a gushing emptying of the contents of her stomach or esophagus, sometimes through the use of a firearm or knife, and at others through a fall from a great height or an implosion. Over and over again, the animated figure manages to come back to life, regaining its strength to get up and keep going. These dramatic sequences are at times accompanied by a rousing pop composition in which Syms’s vocals metaphorically describe the various facets of life in the twenty-first century and the elementary conditions and questions of humanity that accompany it. The line MY BEATING HEART can be heard as well as I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU HERE and I WANT TO GIVE AND RECEIVE.

Caught somewhere between life and death, hope and despair, power and powerlessness, DED evokes a grotesque, at times surreal image that certainly reflects the current atmosphere of global crises and catastrophes. With its observations, questions, demands, and fantasies, the work marks the closing point of the exhibition and offers impetus for an everlasting search. FIND A WAY can accordingly be read both on a frieze-like, luminous banner on the façade of the Fridericianum and on the strap weavings of the chairs that flank Syms’s cinematic works, alongside a group of six photographs. The latter feature the similarly deliberate, empathetic, cursory gaze that also informs the footage in Ugly Plymouths at the start of the exhibition.

The digital conference on June 11, 2021 is dedicated to the history of the first documenta exhibition (1955) and the connection of its curators to National Socialism. The conference is a collaboration between the Kunsthochschule Kassel/Universität Kassel and the documenta archiv and can be followed via livestream on Youtube.

Digital conference
Friday, June 11, 2021, 10 am – 5 pm
Livestream via YouTube (in German)
Moderation: Dr. Birgitta Coers and Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hemken

The Kunsthochschule Kassel (Kassel College of Art, Art Studies) and the documenta archiv are organizing a public digital conference on the connection of the first documenta with National Socialism on June 11, 2021. The event focuses on the exhibition's co-curators at the time, Werner Haftmann and Kurt Martin, who demonstrably held NSDAP membership (Haftmann) or were employed as curators (Martin) during the Nazi dictatorship. In addition, the question is explored with what motivation works from the “Degenerate Art” exhibition were shown at the first documenta.

Three panels will discuss the related questions. Speakers include:
Ingo Arend, Wolfgang Benz, Tabea Brinkmann, Heinz Bude, Nanne Buurman, Nikola Doll, Christian Fuhrmeister, Dorothee Gerkens, Eckhard Gillen, Walter Grasskamp, Stefan Greif, Ayşe Güleç, Katja Häckel, Pia Jansen, Alexis Joachimides, Justus Lange, Stefan Koldehoff, Gerhard Panzer, Alexia Pooth, Volker Rattemeyer, Tessa Rosebrock, Thomas Rudert, Anna Rühl, Sabine Schormann, Sylvia Stöbe, Julia Voss, Lena Voss, and Alexandra Winterhoff.

Program

10 – 11.30 am
NSDAP-Mitgliedschaft und Kuration/Kustodie während der NS-Herrschaft
Moderation: Dr. Birgitta Coers, Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hemken, Dr. Harald Kimpel
Speakers: Ingo Arend, Wolfgang Benz, Heinz Bude, Christian Fuhrmeister, Ayşe Güleç, Katja Häckel, Alexia Pooth, Tessa Rosebrock, Thomas Rudert, Sylvia Stöbe

11.30 – 12.30 am
Break

12.30 am – 2 pm
Wie lässt sich das Verhältnis der betroffenen historischen Personen zur modernen Kunst und Ausstellungen zur modernen Kunst definieren? Welche Rolle spielte die Kunstkritik?
Moderation: Dr. Birgitta Coers, Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hemken, Dr. Harald Kimpel
Speakers: Dorothee Gerkens, Eckhard Gillen, Stefan Greif, Pia Jansen, Alexis Joachimides, Gerhard Panzer, Julia Voss

2 – 3 pm
Break

3 – 4.30 pm
Kontinuitäten. Netzwerk im NS: Kunsthandel, Sammler, Kulturpolitik. Werke der modernen Kunst als Bestandteil des Konvoluts „Entartete Kunst“ und als Exponate der ersten documenta
Moderation: Dr. Birgitta Coers, Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hemken, Dr. Harald Kimpel
Speakers: Tabea Brinkmann, Nanne Buurman, Nikola Doll, Walter Grasskamp, Stefan Koldehoff, Justus Lange, Tessa Rosebrock, Anna Rühl, Lena Voss, Alexandra Winterhoff

4.30 – 5 pm
Fragen! Antworten? Fragen!… Welche Schlussfolgerungen lassen sich ausgehend von den Diskussionen und dem bisherigen Kenntnisstand ziehen?
Moderation: Dr. Birgitta Coers, Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hemken, Dr. Harald Kimpel
Speakers: Heinz Bude, Nikola Doll, Eckhard Gillen, Katja Häckel, Pia Jansen, Alexis Joachimides, Stefan Koldehoff, Volker Rattemeyer, Sabine Schormann, Julia Voss

A collaboration between the Kunsthochschule Kassel/Universität Kassel and the documenta archiv, Kassel.

The conference is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung.

Download Press Release

Further information:
www.documenta-archiv.de
www.kunsthochschulekassel.de

Reopening of the Fridericianum and beginning of the exhibition Vincent Fecteau
Opening: Thursday, June 3, 2021, 11 am – 8 pm
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel

Press preview:
We are very pleased to announce that the Fridericianum will reopen to the public on Thursday, June 3, 2021 with the new exhibition Vincent Fecteau. In this context, we invite you to an individual press preview of the retrospective show of the internationally acclaimed artist. Moritz Wesseler, Director of the Fridericianum, will be available as a discussion partner. In addition, there will be the opportunity to ask Fecteau questions in the context of a digital conversation. For both formats, appointments are available upon request at press@fridericianum.org.

Since the early 1990s, Vincent Fecteau has been making sculptures and collages from simple, sometimes everyday materials – such as newspaper clippings, papier-mâché, foam core, corks, popsicle sticks or shells – that display diverse manifestations. Some of his works are small-scale, rectilinear, monochrome or abstract, while others are expansive, intricate, colorful or narrative. They are the outcome of a long, intense creative process that begins with the selection and combination of materials. This is followed by the continuous and careful processing of these components until the multifaceted nature of each object is articulated. Often, the properties of the chosen media and the manual production method are visible here. During the production process, Fecteau does not subject himself to any conceptual framework. His action is guided by intuitive reactions to the various media. The results of this approach are often difficult to describe in words. What at first sight appears to clearly be within our grasp, defies classification upon closer inspection. This circumstance plays a part in the enigmatic nature of the formulations and tempts one to engage in the manifold associations the artist’s sculptures and collages generate. The objects evoke images of model-like architectures, stages and showcases, but also of bodies, limbs and organs. However, these notional associations and ideas are very hazy and largely dissolve swiftly into abstractions. Despite their ambiguities, the works repeatedly reveal references to the formal languages and approaches of historical tendencies. Thus, allusions to the avantgarde movements of the early 20th century can be discerned just as can references to post-war art or postmodernism. At no point, however, does Fecteau give the impression he is indulging in reminiscence. Quite the opposite. The works leave no doubt that they are testaments to their time. This can be detected both in their formal characteristics and in the exploration of queer forms of identity, life and culture often manifested in them. In this regard, Fecteau’s preoccupation with values, ideas and perspectives that can be located beyond heteronormative worldviews is informed by his personal experience of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the social changes accompanying it. The importance of his works for contemporary art discourse thus results not only from their compositional finesse, poetic force and pronounced obduracy, but equally from their sociopolitical aspirations and their basic empathetic stance.

Vincent Fecteau was born in 1969 in Islip, New York, and now lives in San Francisco. From 1987 to 1992 he studied at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. As early as 1993, he participated in group exhibitions, which were followed by his first solo show at Kiki Gallery in San Francisco in 1994. The show The Scene of a Crime at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in 1997 marked the start of the reception of his work within a museum-related context. His first international exposure came with his participation in the Whitney Biennial in 2002, followed by focused presentations at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven in 2004, the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008, Inverleith House in Edinburgh in 2010, Kunsthalle Basel in 2015, the Vienna Secession in 2016 and the CAA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco in 2019. In Germany, an institutional appreciation of Fecteau’s artistic work has so far been lacking. The exhibition at the Fridericianum aims to remedy precisely this. Based on over sixty selected works created between 1993 and 2020, the show will provide a comprehensive overview of Fecteau’s oeuvre.

The press preview takes place under the guidance of required hygiene regulations.

As of April 29, Platform6, the virtual platform for Documenta11, will be accessible at www.documenta-platform6.de. As an open, growing project, the web platform will explore the exhibition curated by Okwui Enwezor in 2002 and the continuing relevance of questions raised at the time. The focus is on discourses about truth, globalization, forms of collectivity and solidarity. Platform6 sees itself as a tribute to Okwui Enwezor, who died in Munich on March 15, 2019, his theoretical approaches, and his curatorial legacy.

The virtual platform brings together historical material from the documenta archiv, including catalog essays, texts, videos, and photos. In addition, there are new contributions by curators, artists, and Enwezor’s collaborators, such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Alfredo Jaar, Isaac Julien, Geeta Kapur, Wilfried Kuehn, Sarat Maharaj, Mark Nash, Monica Narula, Annie Paul, Yinka Shonibare, Terry Smith, Stephanie von Spreter and Vivan Sundaram. Artists, critics, art-historians, and former colleagues of Okwkui Enwezor, as well as members of the general public, are invited to submit materials to the website. By providing free access to texts from the years 2001/02 on the platform, the documenta archiv is also meeting the requirements of a contemporary Open Access Policy for the first time.

Platform6 builds on the idea of international discussion platforms initiated by Okwui Enwezor and his curatorial team on the occasion of Documenta11. In the run-up to the exhibition, they had organized four of these that focused on current political, social, and artistic topics: Democracy Unrealised in Vienna in March/April 2001; Truth and Reconciliation in New Delhi in May 2001; Creolité and Creolization in St. Lucia in January 2002; and Under Siege: Four African Cities. Freetown, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos in Lagos in May 2002. Documenta11 in Kassel from June to September 2002 then functioned as the fifth platform, which opened up to global themes in a unique way and is considered the first exhibition of its kind to focus on decidedly non-European and postcolonial perspectives. Okwui Enwezor can be seen as the initiator and ambassador of this internationalization.

As early as 2011, Enwezor’s co-curators Ute Meta Bauer, Mark Nash, and project manager Angelika Nollert envisioned a possible sixth platform as a place for self-reflection, analysis, and retrospection on the exhibition. Before his untimely death, Okwui Enwezor himself returned to Kassel with this intention. “Together with ruangrupa, the Artistic Direction of documenta fifteen planned for 2022, we enthusiastically embraced his idea. With Platform6, we not only want to honor his work posthumously, but also create a lively forum for exchange on his approaches. Particularly in view of documenta fifteen, there are interesting points of intersection, but also differences with regard to topics such as globality, collectivity and participation.” – Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH.

“The motto of the sixth platform should be ‘reculer pour mieux sauter’ — looking back to look forward. We are using the occasion to reframe the most urgent questions in our practice, just as Documenta11 allowed us to rethink our political, cultural, and aesthetic engagement.” – Mark Nash, Enwezor's co-curator at Documenta11 and co-initiator of Platform6.

“The basis of the virtual platform is the documenta archiv’s holdings from the five platforms of Documenta11. Preparing these, making them accessible on the web, and supplementing them with contributions in a wide variety of formats was a wonderful task for everyone involved. Starting on April 29, 2021, interested parties all over the world are invited to virtually follow and participate in the ongoing discussion process and the results.” – Martin Groh, research associate at the documenta archiv, project coordinator for Platform6.

Dr. Birgitta Coers, Director of the documenta archiv: “The project has brought together international participants and can be considered a successful example of the fruitful, intellectually enriching collaboration between former curators, the Artistic Team of documenta fifteen, and the documenta archiv. The archive has responded to the discursive openness of Ewezor’s concept with a new policy of open access, and made not only the current contributions but also the platform texts of the time freely accessible.”

Okwui Enwezor (* October 3, 1963 in Calabar, Nigeria; † March 15, 2019 in Munich) was the artistic director of Documenta11, a curator, author, art critic, and lecturer. Selected curatorial activities are: 2nd Johannesburg Biennial (1997); Documenta11, Kassel (2002); 2nd Seville Biennial (2006); 7th Gwangju Biennial (2008); 56th Venice Biennale (2015); Director of Haus der Kunst, Munich (2011–18).

www.documenta-platform6.de

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About documenta archiv
The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to the archiving, documentation and research on modern and contemporary art and its sources. The focus is on the documenta exhibitions since 1955, curatorial practices and documentary strategies. In addition to the documenta materials, the archiv’s ressources include rich press collections, image and audiovisual media, a precious art library as well as numerous curator’s and artist‘s estates. The documenta archiv is part of the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, with the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse as shareholders. As a member of the association „Arbeitskreis selbstständiger Kultur-Institute e.V.“ (AsKI) the archive pursues academic projects along its own collections and cooperates with universities and scientific and cultural institutes. In cooperation with the curatorial and technical staff of the gGmbH the archive realizes exhibitions on artistic and archival positions and related didactic programs.

Starting on Saturday, April 3, 2021, the seven-part conversation series lumbung calling launches documenta fifteen’s Public Program, activated under the title Meydan. Each edition of the series is dedicated to one of the lumbung values: Local Anchor, Humor, Generosity, Independence, Transparency, Sufficiency, and Regeneration. The format dives deeper into the background of the artistic concept for documenta fifteen and illuminates the idea of lumbung from many different angles. Through conversations with a variety of guests, lumbung calling will explore the rich meaning of lumbung across multiple disciplines, points of view, and contexts within an artistic framing. The invited protagonists have faced major challenges and initiated true revolutions on various scales: academics, cultural activists, independent researchers, organic farmers, fishermen, and festival organizers, among others.

lumbung calling will take place on the first Saturday of every month over seven sessions, from April to October 2021. The conversation series will begin digitally through documenta fifteen’s website and its social media channels YouTube and Facebook. As soon as the restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic allow, lumbung calling will shift to a hybrid format and eventually take place as a physical event in Kassel.

lumbung as a set of values and a cosmology
With its unique shapes and styles, lumbung is an easily recognizable building in Indonesia, similar to a barn. In the official dictionary of the Indonesian language, Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, lumbung is defined as “a container to store agricultural products, commonly rice, in the form of a house on stilts with walls of woven wood or bamboo.” This definition has implications for the way lumbung is interpreted: lumbung can be defined as a place to store harvested crops, particularly in agrarian societies. At the same time, this description confines the meaning of the word to a distinctive architecture. As a practice, however, lumbung transcends its physical appearance as a building and expands to include spaces beyond the agricultural. In Indonesia’s cultural discourse, the term lumbung is used to describe shared collective resources. Seen from this point of view, lumbung is not only a building or object but also a set of values and a cosmology that describes the living practice of a society. It is evidence of a communal life marked by the spirit of collaboration, and its characteristics can be traced back to premodern societies. Today, the accelerated development and modernization of predominantly capitalist modes of production demand a constant redefinition of values. lumbung calling asks how these values can be translated into artistic practice and open up new spaces for conversation.

First edition of lumbung calling: Local Anchor
The first lumbung calling on April 3, 2021, focuses on the value of Local Anchor. The metaphor of an anchor describes the value of soil in our globalized yet divided world: soil that enables roots to grow and connects trees located miles and miles apart. Just as trees echo each other’s signals, harvesting and cultivation methods can resonate with and be amplified by local wisdoms, bringing to life new resources, and developing diverse relationships with time. Guests Melani Budianta and Armin Salassa examine ways of challenging integrated models of political, social, and economic behavior in a discussion unfurling from the point of view of a seed to the tender voices of concerned mothers. The first edition of lumbung calling will be hosted by Jumana Emil Abboud and Mirwan Andan. The event will be held in English and translated into International Sign Language.

Melani Budianta is a professor of Literature and Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Indonesia and a member of the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society. Since the late 1980s, Budianta has undertaken research and writing focused on gender and cultural activism. Her articles have been published in academic journals, newspapers, and magazines. During the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998, she participated in Indonesia’s women’s movement. In 2020, Melani Budianta presented her talk Lumbung Budaya Sepanjang Gang or Cultural Granaries Along the Alleys, organized by the Jakarta Art Council.

Armin Salassa is a farmer and activist in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. In 2011, Salassa—along with farmers from the village where he was born—began implementing natural farming, an organic practice that has long existed in many other areas of the archipelago. Natural farming techniques combine scientific knowledge with wisdom, stories, and practices inherited from ancestors, removing the need for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Since 1993, he has worked as a community organizer in various locations throughout Indonesia and advocated for the denied rights of Indigenous people in Palu, Central Sulawesi. Since 2007, Armin Salassa has assisted community organizations in numerous Indonesian villages, including Aceh, Sumatra, following the 2004 tsunami.

Jumana Emil Abboud’s creative interests lie in oral histories, personal and collective stories, and mythologies, particularly folk tales and their sites of being and unbeing. Abboud uses storytelling, performative elements, and workshop methodologies in her artistic practice to investigate our relationship to time and place, to the human and non-human, exploring tools of memory, attachment, and dispossession amid the challenge for continuity within political, ecological, and cultural struggles. Her work has been shown at The Jerusalem Show; BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, England; Sharjah Biennale, United Arab Emirates; Istanbul Biennale, Turkey; and Venice Biennale, Italy, among many others. She has participated in art residencies including, Sakiya – Art/Science/Agriculture, Palestine; Delfina Foundation, England; Arts Initiative Tokyo, Japan; and Guestatelier Krone, Switzerland. Jumana Emil Abboud is currently pursuing a practice-led PhD at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London.

Mirwan Andan is a member of ruangrupa, Artistic Direction of documenta fifteen.

Program
lumbung calling: Local Anchor
Saturday, April 3, 2021, 2.30 pm (CET), 7.30 pm (WIB), 8.30 pm (WITA)
With Melani Budianta and Armin Salassa, hosted by Jumana Emil Abboud and Mirwan Andan
In English with translation into International Sign Language
Livestream via Facebook, YouTube and the ruruHaus window

Further Dates
lumbung calling: Humor, Saturday, May 1, 2021
lumbung calling: Generosity, Saturday, June 5, 2021
lumbung calling: Independence, Saturday, July 3, 2021
lumbung calling: Transparency, Saturday, August 7, 2021
lumbung calling: Sufficiency, Saturday, September 4, 2021
lumbung calling: Regeneration, Saturday, October 2, 2021 ¬

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Within the framework of documenta fifteen, the Artistic Team has approached collectives, organizations, and institutions from around the world to gather and practice lumbung. So far, nine lumbung members have been announced. After intensive exchange between them and the Artistic Team, as well as several conversations with the organizations concerned, five new lumbung members are proudly announced: Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka, Bangladesh), FAFSWAG (Auckland, Aotearoa), Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt (INSTAR; Havana, Cuba), Project Art Works (Hastings, United Kingdom), and Wajukuu Art Project (Nairobi, Kenya).

Each of the now fourteen lumbung members will share various resources to the collective lumbung (rice barn). Together, they will develop long-term conversations, in which the sharing of time, space, money, knowledge, care, or art will increase the well-being of each of their local practices and ecosystems, and of the lumbung network—during documenta fifteen and beyond. Working with different artistic approaches, as well as learning from other models of education, ecology, or economy, and related lumbung practices in different parts of the world is considered pivotal to lumbung.

Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Britto Arts Trust (Britto) is an artist-run non-profit collective officially founded in 2002 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with a global reach as part of the Triangle Network. Britto Arts Trust is based in Dhaka, but works extensively in different locations across the country. Britto attempts to understand Bangladesh’s socio-political upheaval by exploring missing histories, cultures, and communities and collaborating with various partners. It responds by gathering knowledge and resources, sharing the collective’s thoughts and ideas, and creating artworks in connection and collaboration with local communities.

Over the past few years, Britto has concentrated on large-scale, long-term projects focusing on socio-political issues and engaging communities and participants from various spheres. One example is ZERO WASTE-FoodArt, which was established during the coronavirus pandemic. Since March 2020, this initiative has worked with a number of artists and art collectives to create socially responsible projects at various locations in Bangladesh and abroad. Britto seeds and promotes multiple interdisciplinary practitioners, groups, and networks. It provides an international and local forum for the development of professional art practitioners, a place where they can meet, discuss, experiment, and upgrade their abilities on their own terms. In response to the lack of suitable educational institutions in Bangladesh, Britto functions as an alternative learning platform for many artists who have gone on to produce highly experimental work. Starting with its connection to local roots, histories, and communities, Britto then engages with international events, such as the organization of the first Bangladesh Pavilion at the 54th Biennale di Venezia in 2011.
https://brittoartstrust.org/

FAFSWAG (Auckland, Aotearoa)
FAFSWAG is a Moana Oceanic arts collective committed to social change through arts and innovation, producing bespoke cultural activation that is cutting edge, culturally responsive, and socially relevant.

Operating across a multitude of interdisciplinary art forms and genres, FAFSWAG’s artists work collaboratively to activate public and digital space, speaking to their contexts as Queer Indigenous arts practitioners.
https://fafswagvogue.com

Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt (Havana, Cuba)
The Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt (INSTAR) emerged as an institution for civic literacy on May 20, 2015, from a public action called by the Cuban artivist Tania Bruguera where people read and discussed Hannah Arendt’s book The Origins of Totalitarianism for one hundred hours.

Since its inception, INSTAR has been thought of as a democratic and horizontal space, where decisions are made by consensus. “We are interested in claiming social justice and rights sometimes alien to the Cuban context, such as fair wages, a working environment that is maternity friendly, supporting independent projects and artists, respect for freedom of expression, the rescue of the historical memory of art and independent civil society, and building a project with people who think differently but want to make a country for everyone,” INSTAR say about themselves and their practices. INSTAR is a safe space that protects and connects other organizations, activists, and artists—acting like a living organism that breathes, feels, reacts, and has a memory. INSTAR’s work can be organized into three stages linked to its mission, which use different artistic expressions and allow the transformation of a chaotic vision into an unexpected order, a new order, from where a new future can be articulated:

Stage I: Training workshops to strengthen the capacities of artists, intellectuals, academics, citizenship, youth, and activist groups.
Stage II: Financial support for creators, associations, and independent projects through prizes and scholarships. Visibility, while making allowances for the current coronavirus pandemic, through INSTAR’s social networks. Taking a position against decrees 349, 373, and 370, with which the Cuban State restricts freedom of expression and creative independence.
Stage III: Reconstruction of the history of creative production, art, and independent activism through rescuing files and making them available to the public, free of charge.
https://artivismo.org/

Project Art Works (Hastings, United Kingdom)
Project Art Works is a UK-based collective of artists and makers. They produce and disseminate art underpinned by radical approaches to neurodiversity, rights, and representation. Project Art Works’ program evolves through supported studio practice and radiates out into multiple collaborations, exhibitions, co-commissions, movies, publications, and digital outputs. Personalized and holistic studio environments are recreated wherever a project takes place. The studio is a place of level hierarchy where events and happenings unfold, revealing the lived experience and creative potential of all those involved (https://vimeo.com/161897285). Artists and makers work together in purposeful collaboration through total communication that utilizes language or gesture, sound, signing, and empathy.

The collective interrogates and promotes creative and sustainable models of artist development and care through practice-based research, productions, and partnerships. The work of neurodiverse artists is disseminated via social media, digital platforms and cultural and care collaborations nationally and internationally. Through aspirational planning, free training, and advocacy, families and caregivers have opportunities to utilize their knowledge and skills to better navigate and harness health and social care systems and explore bespoke models of care that improve their lives.
https://projectartworks.org

Wajukuu Art Project (Nairobi, Kenya)
Wajukuu Art Project (Wajukuu) is a community-based organization situated in the Lunga-Lunga neighborhood of the Mukuru slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The project was established in 2004 by a group of artists with a common goal: to make Mukuru a place where children can thrive and to create employment through the production and sale of quality artworks.

Mukuru slum sits on a hillside below the factories that make up the industrial area of Nairobi. A nearby dumpsite draws youth from the slum, who are largely shut out from employment in the factories that pollute their community. Scavenging for items to sell is one of the few economic opportunities available to them. Many eventually turn to crime and selling drugs. Violence and sexual assault are all too common, jeopardizing their well-being and claiming the lives of many young victims. From this landscape, Wajukuu emerged, a testimony to the resilience and capacity of people to transmute suffering into beauty.

“Art is the backbone of Wajukuu. Art for us is not just a practice; it’s a way of life. Through art classes, Wajukuu empowers children and youth to use art to find their true selves, connect with their heritage, cope with challenges they face at home and in their community, speak out against injustices imposed on them, and envisage alternative futures. Our community library, the first in Mukuru, is a safe space for students and adults to study. We address various topics such as conflict resolution, crime prevention, culture practices, gender equality, health, teen pregnancy, and youth decision-making through documentary screenings and mural painting. By doing so, we create a platform for the community to fully participate in the issues affecting them,” Wajukuu Art Project say about their work.
https://wajukuuarts.wordpress.com/

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Overview of lumbung members

This statement was made by the General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Dr. Sabine Schormann, confirming the dpa report of January 5, 2021, and responding to yesterday’s report on Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

“Together with the Artistic Team and the documenta committees, we are of course watching the developments of the coronavirus pandemic very closely,” Schormann said. “Preparations for documenta fifteen remain on track, and the entire team is highly motivated. As communicated in December, the only responsible approach is to closely monitor the developments of the coronavirus pandemic in order to be able to decide on further steps in summer 2021. At the moment, we are confident that the COVID-19 vaccines will enable a return to a life as normal as possible in the near future.”

We will keep you informed of any further documenta fifteen developments.

Image Material for download

documenta’s visual identity is always eagerly awaited – as an expression of the curatorial approach of each new edition. On December 15, 2020, documenta fifteen (June 18 to September 25, 2022) will present its visual identity to the public. The graphic design, developed in collaboration with students, is inspired by documenta’s lumbung concept.

With the symbol of the hands, documenta fifteen’s appearance, which was developed out of the design concept of the Jakarta student collective Studio 4oo2, refers to the lumbung principle on which ruangrupa based its documenta, which is all about collective practices of sharing, solidarity and friendship.
lumbung is the Indonesian village practice where farmers store the surplus of their harvest in a rice barn for the future well being of the community, and distribute it according to collectively determined mechanisms. By taking lumbung not only as a theme, but as a practice, documenta fifteen aims to rethink ways of building sustainability of artistic practices around the world through sharing resources not just economically, but also in terms of ideas, knowledge, programs, and innovations. Principles such as collectivity and collaboration, resource development and fair distribution are at the forefront here.
The hands depicted in rope describe a communal society that has no limits and offers a sustainable process for the future. This core element of the visual identity for documenta fifteen expresses the attitude and gesture of lumbung. The design’s color palette was adapted from natural fabric dyes used for generations in Indonesia to manufacture traditional textile products. These colors were taken mostly from eastern Indonesia, where lumbung is still active.

Collective Development with Students
ruangrupa itself emerged in the mid-1990s from student networks at the art academies in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. For the artists’ collective, polyphony and the integration of the perspectives of the younger generation is key. Learning from this experience and background, in the end of 2019 ruangrupa invited students from Kassel and Jakarta to take part in developing documenta fifteen’s visual identity, instead of relying solely on established design agencies. From more than twenty submissions by individuals and groups, two design proposals were selected: Studio 4oo2 from Jakarta and kmmn_practice from Kassel.
The teams submitted two very different concepts and each has been given the opportunity to pursue their own approach. In the process, Studio 4oo2 was tasked with developing documenta fifteen’s overall design identity, while kmmn_practice was given the chance to implement their participatory approach for the visual appearance of the ruruHaus. In the early summer of 2020, the Studio 4oo2 students began their collaborative work with Berlin brand agency Stan Hema and documenta’s in-house designer Leon Schniewind.

Presentation in Film Clips and within the Public Space
documenta fifteen will be presenting its visual appearance by means of a film clip and features within Kassel’s public space. Among other places, it will be visible at the ruruHaus, the first venue of documenta fifteen: there it has been applied to the façade in the form of a large mural by Kassel graffiti and street art project KolorCubes. Further presences on large surfaces or advertising columns can be found in the urban space. The visual appearance and its development is presented in detail in this video.

Today, Tuesday, December 15, 2020, at 3 pm, a photo session with representatives from ruangrupa, Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH Dr. Sabine Schormann, and the documenta fifteen communications team will be held in front of the documenta Halle. This will purely be a photo opportunity, taking into account the hygiene and distancing regulations.
We kindly ask you to register in advance at presse@documenta.de.

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, is delighted with the new visual identity: “documenta fifteen is now taking shape. Many interlocking hands stand for cohesion and a new togetherness. The magnificent transformation of the design into a mural on the ruruHaus sends out a clear salutation to the city from the ruangrupa curatorial team. It is a colorful and, above all, optimistic message pointing to the future at the end of a year that has been exhausting for everyone. And anticipation for the next, eagerly awaited documenta is growing.”

Studio 4oo2 on the Visual Design
“The lumbung concept is visualized in our design by the shape of the hand, a feeling part of our bodies, which is used in human activities such as holding, giving or hugging. The hand, directly or indirectly, plays an essential role in interactive processes between people. As a symbol it is directly linked to the concept of lumbung, a collective repository for the harvest produced by a community. These activities – harvesting, togetherness, sustainable support – all require the involvement of hands, just as the purpose of lumbung refers to the hand that connects people,” say Studio 4oo2.
Studio 4oo2 is a team of four students from Universitas Negeri Jakarta. The name “Studio 4oo2” (pronounced: “four-oh-oh-two”) is derived from the amount of money the students had to pay out in parking tickets (4,000 Rupiahs for two motorcycles) at the fast-food restaurant the team used as a workplace when developing their application, as this restaurant was the only place they could access 24 hours a day. The team consists of Angga Reksha Ramadhan, Larasati Fildzah Kinanti, Louisiana Wattimena and Rosyid Mahfuzh.

Press Release (PDF)

Trisha Baga: Hope
Tuesday, November 3, 2020, 7 pm
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel, Germany

Under the title Hope, Trisha Baga will illuminate the Fridericianum in Kassel on November 3, 2020, with a film produced especially for the occasion. The work is a reflection on the state of our world today and, more specifically, a commentary on the U.S. presidential election taking place on the same date. Here, the artist, born in Venice, Florida, in 1985 and now living in New York, emphasizes her confidence in the future and ongoing change while remaining acutely aware of the prevailing challenges the world faces, as hope is not just about joyful expectation. The title can also be read as a reference to the political advisor Hope Hicks, who tested positive for COVID-19 in October 2020 before the virus was also detected in President Donald Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.

The approximately eight-minute film, which will be projected onto the facade of the Fridericianum in an endless loop using a series of powerful projectors, is characterized by a nonlinearity. Its point of departure is a series of shots in which Baga can be seen creating a clay model of the White House—a building that shares similar architectural features with the Fridericianum. These scenes are juxtaposed with footage of the clay replica in ruins. As the film progresses, the wreckage of this edifice becomes a projection screen on which various moving and fragmented images intermittently appear, including snippets showing President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, online news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, forest fires, the opening passage of the U.S. Constitution, speleologists equipped with spotlights, and snails making love. Over and over, the bright light of a scanner travels across the surface of this model of the presidential residence and seat of government, accompanied by the sounds of the data collection device.

Baga’s film reflects the markedly contrasting events, aspects, and moods of the present moment, which combine to form a new sense of unity within the work. The result is an echoing declaration in which, like in most of the artist’s works, the boundaries between film, painting, sculpture, and architecture, between the work of art and its surroundings, blur. The relevance of Baga’s themes is underscored through the work’s specific form of presentation as a widely visible illumination, one that gives rise to a resounding call for both hope and action.

We are pleased to be able to offer you a digital press interview with Trisha Baga in advance. If you are interested, please let us know by Thursday, October 29, 2020.

The event takes place under the guidance of required hygiene regulations.

Alexandra Bircken: Top down / Bottom up
Presentation: Saturday, October 31, 2020, 3 pm
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel, Germany

Press Preview: Thursday, October 29, 2020, 11.30 am (the artist will be present)
Speakers:
Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
Moritz Wesseler, Director of the Fridericianum

We look forward to your participation. Please register under press@fridericianum.org.

Over the portico of the Fridericianum in Kassel, between the allegories of architecture and philosophy, a shimmering green figure is caught in a handstand. It is a lacquered aluminum sculpture that was created especially for this location by the artist Alexandra Bircken, who was born in Cologne in 1967 and now lives in Berlin. The work immortalizes the action of a young gymnast, captured by Bircken with great precision using a 3D scanner to create a mold from which the sculpture was cast. The gymnast’s thrust-back head, straining arms, and taut, straight, upraised legs, convey the body tension that enables the dainty acrobat to defy gravity at great heights. The figure can be studied in more detail down below, where a counterpart to the roof-top gymnast is installed in the square in front of the Fridericianum. Situated a few meters from the portico steps, this second aluminum sculpture, cast from the same mold and also painted green, is identical to the high-flying acrobat above. However, unlike the figure on the roof, the one on the cobblestones is rotated 180 degrees: rather than balancing on her hands, she rises from the ground on the tips of her toes, her upraised, angled hands seemingly carrying the firmament. This pair of balancing gymnasts converses with and yet also counters the classical architecture of the Fridericianum and the outdoor sculptures from past documenta exhibitions installed around Friedrichsplatz. Titled Top down / Bottom up, these two sculptures form a single unit in a finely tuned interplay directly tied to Bircken’s investigations into the physical and psychological parameters of objects and beings, which she articulates in a unique, intense, and often surreal language of form.

The Fridericianum’s Interventions series invites artists to develop site-specific works that activate, accentuate, or transform previously unused spaces and visitor transit areas of the museum beyond the regular exhibition spaces. These site-specific works that include wall works, outdoor sculptures, and sound installations, remain on display for an extended period of time, with some becoming permanent features of the building.

The press preview takes place under the guidance of required hygiene regulations.

On October 1, 2020, the documenta archiv will embark upon the comprehensive cataloguing and preparation of its holdings. This "cataloguing campaign" is planned to last for ten years. To this end, the State of Hesse and the City of Kassel intend to provide funding totaling EUR 5.4 million by 2030.

Testimonies of the artistic and curatorial work surrounding the documenta exhibitions from 1955 to the present day are to be explored in greater depth and properly prepared and systematized in line with archival and scientific standards.

Angela Dorn, Minister for Science and Art of the State of Hesse:
"The State of Hesse sees the unique significance of Kassel's documenta in the world. Which is why we have undertaken great efforts to make the documenta Institute possible. The goal is to provide an appropriate venue for a systematic examination of this so important exhibition. The documenta archiv is pivotal in this development: it is a treasure which – with its sophisticated and scientific approach – makes the documenta a piece of art history, also in institutional terms. We are happy to support this key preparatory step making the documenta archiv accessible to national and international research.
The archive's holdings will form the core of the emerging documenta Institute and facilitate the excellent research to be conducted there. "The City of Kassel is proud that the documenta archiv along with the Bauhaus Archive are among the oldest and most important art archives in Germany," says Lord Mayor Christian Geselle. "It is very important to us to make it fit for the future."
The archive's holdings primarily reflect the history of documenta exhibitions. At the same time, however, the documenta archiv is also a documentation center for contemporary art and curatorial work in general, and thus an invaluable resource for art and cultural studies and research into the reception of exhibitions.

The cataloguing is of crucial importance for the documenta Institute

Commenting on the cataloguing campaign Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, said: "Making the unique holdings of the documenta archiv accessible to academia through in-depth cataloguing while also making them tangible for the general public and urban society is a prerequisite for a lively exchange between science and art, and indeed one that is increasingly in evidence at documenta exhibitions themselves as a rapprochement between these two disciplines.
The first steps towards opening the archive were already taken after the former municipal documenta archiv was affiliated with documenta gGmbH in 2016: Exhibition cooperations were initiated, event series established, a reading room set up and a comprehensive website developed. Now the next key step towards opening up the holdings to a wide circle of users is being taken by means of this cataloguing campaign.

The cataloguing campaign creates international standards

The in-depth cataloguing is accompanied by the launch of the hitherto missing digital infrastructure and a professional data capture system. This includes the recording of the holdings in archive databases, rights analysis and management as well as measures for cataloguing and archiving digital documents.
Founding Director of the documenta Institute, Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude, states: "As an interdisciplinary research institute, the documenta Institute is particularly reliant on the indexing of its archive holdings in accordance with international standards. It is tremendous that these foundations are now being laid so decisively."
"I look forward to working with the team to take on the cataloguing of the valuable holdings. Gearing the documenta archiv up to the future in this way will make it more attractive and, in the best sense, inspire artists, curators and collectors to make further bequests and estates," says Dr. Birgitta Coers, who will take up the post of Director of the documenta archiv on October 1, 2020.

A total of 560 running meters of shelving, 50 terabytes of digital media and 42,000 media units will be catalogued

The cataloguing campaign includes all departments of the documenta archiv: In the records and papers archive, the documents from the first documenta exhibition up to documenta 14 as well as extensive bequests and estates, such as that of documenta founder Arnold Bode, and the collection of press cuttings are to be viewed, recorded and indexed in depth. A total of around 560 running meters of shelving of archival material with over 45,000 indexing units will be processed
Awaiting systematic structuring in the media collection are over 50 terabytes of digital image and audiovisual media which will then be transferred to a digital archive. Finding aids will be created for more than 65,000 paper prints of photographs, slides and negatives as well as more than 5,000 storage carrier of various kinds. Accessible among other things will be the over 3,000 photographs by Kassel-based photographer Monika Nikolic, which comprehensively document documenta exhibitions 7 to 14.
About 40% of the library's entire holdings (about 42,000 media units), mainly monographs on artists, are still to be recorded bibliographically. This process will be accompanied by conservation measures.
This will make it possible to answer and resolve more quickly those questions typically asked of the archive material such as: What material is a particular artwork made of? How was it staged? Is there an image of a particular artwork and what about the rights of use? Correspondence between the curators and artists, sketches and instructions, video recordings of events and documentation of exhibition situations provide information on past exhibitions and the processes unfolding "behind the scenes".
In addition, ongoing artistic and social discussions can be promoted and their historical dimension examined.

Further information on the history of the documenta archiv and the cataloguing campaign (in German) can be found here.

Press images can be downloaded here.

Waters’ Witness
October 3, 2020 – January 17, 2021
Opening Weekend: Saturday, October 3, 2020, 11 am–7 pm and Sunday, October 4, 2020, 11 am–6 pm
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel, Germany

Press Preview: Thursday, October 1, 2020, 11.30 am (the artist will be present)
Speakers:
Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
Moritz Wesseler, Director of the Fridericianum

We look forward to your participation. Please register under press@fridericianum.org

Tarek Atoui comprehensively exploits the potential of sound art, which lies at the heart of his practice. He is not only interested in how audio events or sounds develop an acoustic effect. Equally important to him is how these phenomena can be perceived with sensory organs other than the ear, how they act as a catalyst for human interaction, and how they relate to social, historical, or spatial parameters. The point of departure for his works is usually comprehensive anthropological, ethnological, musicological, or technical research, which results in the realization of instruments, listening rooms, performances, or workshops, thus constituting an exceptionally multifaceted oeuvre.

The Fridericianum presents Waters’ Witness, the first solo exhibition in Germany of the work of Atoui, who was born in Beirut in 1980 and now lives in Paris. The show is based on Atoui’s ongoing project I/E, where the artist has been researching and documenting the sounds of ports in Athens, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Porto, and Beirut since 2015, processing and transforming these recordings into works. Previously separate components of this project are brought together in Kassel, where audio recordings from the harbors of Athens and Abu Dhabi are combined with materials—marble blocks and steel girders—gathered from each site to form a single unit with the surrounding space. In Waters’ Witness, space, sound, and objects become physically and sensorially perceptible, creating a basis for multi-layered associations, memories, and (self)-reflections.

The installation is complemented by The Tables of Contents (2020). In this work, presented to the public for the first time, the central themes of participation, education, and experimentation in Atoui’s work are clearly articulated. Here, two apparatuses in the form of tables, as indicated by the title, are equipped with various objects that can be operated, including pottery discs, metal pins, and springs, as well as specially constructed instruments. Under expert guidance, visitors can use these objects to actively generate new sounds and modify existing ones. These sounds then flow into the exhibition, becoming part of the installation and inspiring new contributions and interventions.

Tarek Atoui’s career as an artist, who studied contemporary music from 2000 to 2003 at the Conservatoire national français in Reims, has been closely linked to the city of Kassel. In 2012 he participated in dOCUMENTA (13), realizing the performance Metastable Circuit 1 in the urban space of the city and installing La Lutherie, an artistic musical experiment, in the Orangerie. Atoui has participated in numerous exhibitions and projects at international venues, including the Tate Modern in London (2016), the Fundação de Serralves in Porto (2018), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2019), and the 58th Venice Biennale (2019). The artist was recently awarded the Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize, and in response to this, a solo exhibition of Atoui’s work will take place at the Sharjah Art Foundation parallel to the show at the Fridericianum.

The presentation in Kassel is generously supported by Hessische Kulturstiftung: “Natural and artificial sounds penetrate our ears every day. The artist Tarek Atoui makes the origins of this multifaceted, differentiated world of sound tangible. Visitors to the exhibition at the Fridericianum will gain an impression of the complex network of sounds as an expression of social norms, individuals, and designed and natural environments. With his sound installations and instruments, the artist brings to our ears the results of his musical experiments while also testing the other senses for their acoustic tuning.” Eva Claudia Scholtz, Managing Director of the Hessische Kulturstiftung

In addition, the exhibition is patronized with a lot of commitment by the Bureau des arts plastiques of the Institut français and the French Ministry of Culture.

The State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, Kassel University with Kunsthochschule Kassel and documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH have appointed the acclaimed sociologist Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude as Founding Director of the documenta Institute. Bude’s first tasks include formulating a concrete program and developing the internal and external organizational structures of the documenta Institute, which was founded by the four partners as an independent academic research institution.

Bude stands for a brand of science open to a diagnosis of our times gaining prominence with contributions on the issues of social division, regional desertification and global societal dislocation. In 2016, he was awarded the Prize of the German Sociological Association for outstanding achievements in the field of public impact of sociology. Since 2000 he has taught Macrosociology at the University of Kassel.

Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude emphasized at his introduction presentation in Kassel: “The unique opportunity for the documenta Institute is that it views documenta as a model for the exhibition of contemporary art and thus addresses the global social phenomenon of the biennialization of the art field. The interplay between archive, research and urban social participation will create a laboratory for research into contemporaneity through the presentation of contemporary art.”

Lord Mayor Christian Geselle: “In Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude we were able to enlist one of Germany’s most distinguished sociologists as Founding Director of the documenta Institute. This is of great importance for the world art exhibition and our city of art and culture, Kassel. We are delighted that he has been connected to our city through his teaching activities for 20 years now and will remain so in future. I look forward to the impulses Prof. Bude will inject into the future institute.”

Angela Dorn, Hesse’s Minister of State for Higher Education, Science and the Arts: “I am extremely pleased that Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude has agreed to take on the role of Director of the documenta Institute in its foundation phase. With him at the helm, the institute can become a place where an archive meets its art and where research is conceived and carried out as part of social discourse. I look forward to productive discussions and – together with the other partners – I am curious to discover the profile this new Founding Director will give the emerging Institute.”

Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey, President of the University of Kassel: “We recently outlined the framework for the documenta Institute, and now we are giving the institute a face. I am extremely pleased that Prof. Bude is taking on this task. He is one of the most astute and incisive analysts, both in Germany and internationally, of current events, the development of global society and its forms of expression. In him the Institute will have a Founding Director who will vigorously promote its development as an interdisciplinary research institute with international reach. For the institute, for the university and for the city, this appointment is of enormous benefit.”

General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH Dr. Sabine Schormann: “Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude brings with him excellent experience both in terms of content and structure enabling him, together with all partners, to develop the institute and orient it towards the future. I very much look forward to working with him and would also like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Kassel, which has enabled Prof. Bude to be available to the documenta Institute during the foundation phase.”

Image material, Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude’s biography and list of publications as well as his speech can be downloaded here. Additional images of the event will be available around 4 pm. You can also access the livestream of the press conference in retrospect here.

About the documenta Institute
The documenta Institute is being developed in a cooperation between the State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and the University of Kassel with Kunsthochschule Kassel with financial support for the building project from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

The starting point for the documenta Institute is the holdings of the documenta archiv, which is being developed into an extramural research institute. The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to the archiving, documentation and scholarly processing of text and image sources on modern and contemporary art, in particular the documenta exhibitions that have taken place since 1955. In addition to the documenta documents, the holdings include extensive press, image and audiovisual media collections, a unique art library and relevant bequests and estates.

The documenta Institute will initially be founded under the umbrella of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and is intended to act in a cross-disciplinary manner to stimulate, conduct and further develop research related to the international exhibition business and documenta and to promote its public exposure.

The State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, Kassel University with Kunsthochschule Kassel and documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH have appointed the acclaimed sociologist Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude as Founding Director of the documenta Institute. Bude’s first tasks include formulating a concrete program and developing the internal and external organizational structures of the documenta Institute, which was founded by the four partners as an independent academic research institution.

Bude stands for a brand of science open to a diagnosis of our times gaining prominence with contributions on the issues of social division, regional desertification and global societal dislocation. In 2016, he was awarded the Prize of the German Sociological Association for outstanding achievements in the field of public impact of sociology. Since 2000 he has taught Macrosociology at the University of Kassel.

In compliance with the prevailing hygiene and distancing rules, we cordially invite you to an introduction to Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude:

Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 10 am
Rotunda of the Fridericianum
Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel

The event will be broadcast live on the documenta Institute’s YouTube channel and on the website www.documenta.de: www.documenta.de/en/news# (in German).

Speakers:
Lord Mayor Christian Geselle
Minister of State for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Angela Dorn
President of the University of Kassel Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey
General Director of documenta gGmbH Dr. Sabine Schormann
Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude

Dr. Birgitta Coers, who takes up the post of Director of the documenta archiv on October 1, will also be present.
The introduction will be followed by a photo session.

Please note that, in view of the constraints resulting from the pandemic, we must limit the participation and ask for advance notice if you wish to attend this event. Please register at press@documenta.de and wait for a confirmation of participation.

A portrait of Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude can be downloaded here. Photo: Dawin Meckel.

About the documenta Institute
The documenta Institute is being developed in a cooperation between the State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and the University of Kassel with Kunsthochschule Kassel with financial support for the building project from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

The starting point for the documenta Institute is the holdings of the documenta archiv, which is being developed into an extramural research institute. The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to the archiving, documentation and scholarly processing of text and image sources on modern and contemporary art, in particular the documenta exhibitions that have taken place since 1955. In addition to the documenta documents, the holdings include extensive press, image and audiovisual media collections, a unique art library and relevant bequests and estates.

The documenta Institute will initially be founded under the umbrella of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and is intended to act in a cross-disciplinary manner to stimulate, conduct and further develop research related to the international exhibition business and documenta and to promote its public exposure.

Dr. Birgitta Coers takes over as Director of the documenta archiv on October 1, 2020.

Art historian Birgitta Coers (born 1970) will be heading up the documenta archiv from October 1, 2020. Following her university career in Marburg and Tübingen, she has specialized in recent years in the physical and digital management of artists’ estates. After an initial posting in the Art Department of the Saxon State and University Library Dresden, she was commissioned by the Saxon State Ministry for Science and the Arts to develop a data model for the early legacy of artistic objects and writings, and coordinated the development of the Margot Fürst / HAP Grieshaber Archive at the Rottweil Regional Council. Most recently, she worked as a scientific archivist at the State Archives of Baden-Württemberg, where she developed instruments for provenance research.

Coers’ academic focus is on the art of the 19th and 20th centuries, cultural and political networks between East and West after 1945 and exhibition and institutional history. Furthermore, web-based publication strategies and digital research infrastructures are of particular interest to her from a library and archival viewpoint.

In accordance with the decision of the Finding Commission, the documenta archiv has been set up with the new direction as future-oriented institution – from both perspectives, the archival and art historical: “As director of the documenta archiv, it is my concern to prepare the exceptional holdings scientifically and make them internationally visible. I will always take the digital challenges into account looking forward to making the archive a lively place of knowledge within the planned documenta Institute," says Birgitta Coers.

Birgitta Coers replaces Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck, who will now not be taking up the post of director of the documenta archiv as planned on August 1, 2020. For family reasons, she has decided to remain in Cologne, where she will head up the Zentralarchiv für deutsche und internationale Kunstmarktforschung ZADIK (Central Archive for German and International Art Market Studies) at the University of Cologne, which she has been closely associated with for years. “I had already been looking forward to working in Kassel for the documenta archiv, which is one of the world’s leading art archives and one that holds great potential for the planned documenta Institute. However, my future position in Cologne and the professional ties that already exist pave the way for varied points of contact for joint projects and an intensive exchange,” says Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck.

Until Birgitta Coers takes up her post, the interim management of the documenta archiv will remain in the hands of Martin Groh, Head of the Scientific Department.

About the documenta archiv
The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to the archiving, documentation and scholarly processing of text and image sources on modern and contemporary art, in particular the documenta exhibitions that have taken place since 1955. In addition to the documenta documents, the holdings include extensive press, image and audiovisual media collections, a unique art library as well as relevant bequests and estates. The documenta archiv is part of the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH with the shareholders the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse. The documenta archiv is being further developed into an extramural research institute in cooperation with the University of Kassel and Kunsthochschule Kassel. The documenta Institute is intended to stimulate, conduct and further develop research related to the documenta and to promote its public exposure. A new building is being planned.

A portrait of Dr. Birgitta Coers in printable resolution can be downloaded here. Photo: Fotofabrik Stuttgart

lumbung is the Indonesian word for a collectively governed rice-barn, where the gathered harvest is stored for the common good of the community. ruangrupa has built the foundation of documenta fifteen on its core values and ideas. lumbung, as a concept, is the starting point for documenta fifteen. Over the coming years, lumbung will be operational in the lead up to documenta fifteen in 2022, and beyond.

At www.documenta.de/en/documenta-fifteen, ruangrupa gives an insight into how they understand and implement lumbung in their curatorial practice. Also, the first lumbung-members and the Artistic Team individually introduce themselves by sharing stories of their respective practices and how they connect to the wider project.

Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck will assume the post of Director of the documenta archiv as of August 1, 2020. She succeeds Dr. Birgit Jooss, who since summer 2016 has been in charge of the archive, only handed over from the custody of the City of Kassel to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH in early 2016. In her role, Oberste-Hetbleck will now also help shape the development of the documenta Institute, which will initially be under the umbrella of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH in cooperation with the German federal government, the State of Hesse, the City of Kassel and Kassel University.

Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck (born 1978) has held the Junior Professorship of “Art History and Art Market” in the Department of Art History at Cologne University since 2015. Furthermore, she was scientific head of the affiliated institute Zentralarchiv für deutsche und internationale Kunstmarktforschung ZADIK (Central Archive for German and International Art Market Research) until its transfer to the University of Cologne in 2020. As part of her previous research and activities, Oberste-Hetbleck is particularly concerned with historical and contemporary art market structures as well as contemporary exhibitions. She therefore brings relevant experience to the management of the documenta archiv and the further development of the archive into a research institute. In her teaching role in the Department of Art History, Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck was responsible for the master’s core module Art Market developing formats focusing on the mediation of archive topics. The documenta and its history were also a recurring focus.

Her work covers interdisciplinary research, innovative approaches and international networking: “Interdisciplinarity, digitization and cooperation have always been of great concern to me. I am very much looking forward to incorporating this focus into the future design of the documenta archiv. With its unique holdings on the world art exhibitions, the archive will form the nucleus of the newly emerging documenta Institute. On the path to this goal, it is important to work intensively with the holdings, to make them accessible and to actively use them for mediation and research,” says Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck.

The shareholders of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse welcome the Finding Commission’s choice. Chairman of the Supervisory Board at documenta gGmbH Lord Mayor Christian Geselle states: “With Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck, Kassel is gaining a talented archive manager and art historian. I am convinced that with her expert knowledge she will be able to further develop and shape the documenta archiv, in particular when establishing the documenta Institute.”

Angela Dorn, Hesse’s Minister of State for Higher Education, Research and the Arts, is certain: “Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck will use her expertise in the field of art history and archive mediation to make the holdings of the unique documenta archive visible nationally and internationally and make them fruitful for the documenta Institute. We look forward to working with her”.

Dr. Sabine Schormann, Director General of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, emphasizes: “The Finding Commission was able to choose from a very good field of applicants. The key factor in its unanimous decision was ultimately the fact that Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck can look back on extensive experience in the various fields required by this specific archive and its upcoming development challenges.” Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck will take up her post on August 1, 2020. Until then, the interim management will remain with the head of the scientific department, Martin Groh.

About the documenta archiv
The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to the archiving, documentation and scholarly processing of text and image sources on modern and contemporary art, in particular the documenta exhibitions that have taken place since 1955. In addition to the documenta documents, the holdings include extensive press, image and audiovisual media collections, a unique art library as well as relevant bequests and estates. The documenta archiv is part of the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH with the shareholders the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse. The documenta archiv is being further developed into an extramural research institute in cooperation with the University of Kassel and Kunsthochschule Kassel. The documenta Institute is intended to stimulate, conduct and further develop research related to the documenta and to promote its public exposure. A new building is being planned.

A portrait of Dr. Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck in printable resolution can be downloaded here. Photo: Helmar Mildner.

The documenta archiv has received as a gift the important legacy of thinker, art mediator, art critic, artist and professor Bazon Brock. Amongst other things, Bazon Brock founded the documenta “Besucherschulen” (Visitors’ Schools) thereby establishing the mediation of contemporary art as a critical independent practice with overarching cultural objectives.

The now presented comprehensive premature legacy is testimony to Bazon Brock’s decades of work at his cultural institution the “Denkerei” in Berlin and at his studio in Wuppertal. The legacy includes screen-prints, correspondence, slides, photos, teaching materials, image and sound material, publications, press clippings, art objects, digital data as well as 2,000 titles from his library with comments and notes permitting an insight into his modus operandi. For the documenta archiv, which belongs to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, acquisition of this comprehensive collection means a valuable addition to its core inventory, also with regard to forthcoming documenta Institute. Together with the Arnold Bode legacy this addition will form the foundation to the curators’ center which is set to be further extended.

The gift will be accompanied by a generous donation from Dr. Hubert Burda. This commitment will allow for the collection to be indexed thereby paving the way for its public use and academic examination. Hubert Burda – celebrating his 80th birthday over the next few days – and Bazon Brock are linked by a decades-long friendship based, amongst other things, on shared ideas in the field of critical thinking and the productive culture of debate. Commenting on this Hubert Burda said: “One of my greatest achievements is perhaps that I have managed to bear with him over 50 years.” It was very important for Bazon Brock that his archive and parts of his collection were presented to the documenta archiv to be suitably prepared there as an “ordered premature legacy”: “It means a great deal to me to have found such an appropriate place for my life’s work that is accessible to the public.”

Christian Geselle, Lord Mayor of the City of Kassel and Supervisory Board Chairman of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, is delighted with the gift: “This is a great addition for the documenta city of Kassel. Gaining such a key legacy for Kassel shows the huge potential the documenta archiv – only entrusted by the City to documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH three years ago – in terms of the historiography of documenta and also the development of contemporary art and art mediation.”

The State of Hessen also welcomes the addition. Commenting on this Hessen’s State Minister of Higher Education, Research and the Arts Angela Dorn said: “documenta regularly puts Hessen into the international spotlight delighting all those who are interested in art. In addition to the major cultural significance it is also welcomed that the move includes citizens and makes documenta an experience for them. Bazon Brock has carried out significant work in the field of art mediation. I am delighted that he is leaving his important life’s work to the documenta archiv in memory of the world art exhibition. And likewise that as a state Hessen will continue to grow as a center of this art mediation.”

Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, underlines the significance of this donation: “The breadth of Bazon Brock’s work, past and present, as a universal poet, teacher of aesthetics, author, speaker and creator of visitor and citizen schools is similarly reflected in the diversity, universality and rich contrasts of the legacy which we have now received as a gift for the documenta archiv. The fact that Hubert Burda has also decided to make such a generous donation for work on the legacy will pave the way to it being suitably indexed. We are deeply indebted to Bazon Brock and to him. The outgoing director of the documenta archiv, Dr. Birgit Jooss and her team, have also ensured that the legacy could be secured for Kassel through their many years of commitment and professional work.” The legacy will be presented in full upon completion of structural work on the documenta Institute, which is currently being established. The cataloguing work will begin before then.

Please download images here.

Bazon Brock
Prof. Dr. Bazon Brock (born in 1936 as Jürgen Johannes Hermann Brock) studied German, Philosophy and Politics. He was a student of Adorno, lyricist, dramaturge, artist and Professor of Aesthetics and is considered an exponent of the Fluxus movement. He is the founder of the “Besucherschule” (Visitors’ School) that was held to accompany the documenta exhibitions 4, 5, 6 and 7 and which remained influential during documenta 8 and 9. In 1968 the concept advocated for a new kind of art mediation that promoted audience literacy at a visual level: the aim was to educate a qualified and informed art audience across the board. The concept also particularly became known by means of the “Audiovisual Foreword” of documenta 5.

documenta archiv
The documenta archiv is part of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. It is home to the written, image and electronic documents arising in connection with documenta exhibitions. With its unique holdings of the archive of records and papers, media collection and the library the documenta archiv also forms the nucleus of the documenta Institute initially being founded under the auspices of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH in cooperation with the German federal government, the Land of Hessen, the City of Kassel and the University of Kassel. The institute will stimulate, conduct and further develop research related to documenta and make it publicly visible.

Exhibition: Forrest Bess
February 15 – May 3, 2020
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel

Opening: Friday, February 14, 2020, 7 pm
Press Preview: Thursday, February 13, 2020, 11 am
Speakers:
Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
Moritz Wesseler, Director of the Fridericianum
We look forward to your participation. Please register under press@fridericianum.org.

The Fridericianum presents the first exhibition of the work of American painter Forrest Bess in Germany for over thirty years

The exhibition at the Fridericianum presents the remarkable and unusual work of Forrest Bess to a wider German audience for the first time since 1989. By featuring over seventy works from institutional and private collections, the artist’s development is mapped from his early conventional, figurative formulations through to his so-called “visionary” paintings—the biomorphic abstractions—that make up the main body of his work. Furthermore, by exhibiting selected correspondence and other archival material, Bess’s biography is carefully traced while at the same time providing a background to his art theoretical approaches, the handling of his homosexuality, and his theories of hermaphroditism. This insight into the life and work of an artist who has found a considerable following among contemporary artists, such as Tomma Abts, James Benning, Robert Gober, Richard Hawkins, Henrik Olesen, and Amy Sillman, strongly highlights Bess’s relevance to the present day.

Forrest Bess: Life and Work

The painter Forrest Bess, born in 1911 in Bay City, Texas, where he also died in 1977, is considered an outstanding yet little understood figure in American postwar art. Both his work and lifestyle conformed little to the conventions of the day. He thus led a rather secluded existence from the second half of the 1940s on the Gulf of Mexico where he worked as a catcher and seller of fish bait. During this time, Bess began to systematically produce small-format paintings which encapsulated “visions” that appeared to him on the threshold between waking and sleep. These works, which he exhibited fairly regularly from 1951, feature symbols, shapes, and spaces that are not clearly decipherable and which can be located in the field of biomorphic abstractions. For Bess, subconscious experiences and humanity’s collective memory manifested themselves in these pictorial worlds. Accordingly, he pursued the exploration of his visions like an intense piece of research. He studied texts on mythology, art history, psychology, and sexual science that he articulated in countless records and correspondence without ever unravelling the mystery of his creativity. Over time he came to the conclusion that he could attain immortality by uniting the male and the female. In the 1950s this belief ultimately led to personal medical interventions on his own genitals, through which he tried to become a pseudo-hermaphrodite. For Bess artistic work was closely related to life itself, which, conveyed with his intensity and specificity, can be seen as a feature distinguishing him from artists like Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, or Clyfford Still—who like him exhibited at the legendary Betty Parsons Gallery. However, it is not only from this perspective that we can discern a difference to these artists who are today considered the main exponents of Abstract Expressionism. The intimate format of Bess’s paintings is in direct contrast to the monumentality of his colleagues’ works. Furthermore, his work is neither marked by a recognizable style nor characterized by any form of stringent development. Even though Bess’s works, as abstractions, fit perfectly into the context of contemporary art history, his “visionary” pictures nevertheless tread their very own path. It is precisely this aspect that has played a considerable role in making him a point of reference for generations of subsequent artists.

After his death Bess gained recognition in the form of various institutional solo exhibitions. Marking the start of this was a presentation at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 1981, followed by a touring exhibition in 1988 to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the San José Museum of Art in San José, concluding at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in 1989. This was followed in 2013–14 by the exhibition Seeing Things Invisible which toured to the Menil Collection in Houston, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, as well as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Together with Robert Gober’s initiated juxtaposition of Bess’s writings and works in the context of the Whitney Biennial 2012, the tour formed a high point in the reception of this visionary painter. The exhibition at the Fridericianum follows on from these shows and, for the first time since 1989, updates the reception of Forrest Bess’s work in the German context.

The exhibition is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.

Exhibition: Rachel Rose
October 26, 2019 – January 12, 2020
Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel, Germany

Press preview: Friday, October 25, 2019, 11.30 am (the artist will be present)
Opening: Friday, October 25, 2019, 7 pm
Please register at: press@fridericianum.org

In Rachel Rose’s first large-scale solo exhibition in Germany, the artist (born New York, 1986) will present a selection of her video installations and a new series of sculptures at the Fridericianum in Kassel. In recent years, Rose has quickly risen to prominence for her compelling video installations and films. This selective overview of Rose’s practice, which focuses on moving images, is comprised of five works: Sitting Feeding Sleeping (2013), Everything and More (2015), Lake Valley (2016), Autoscopic Egg (2017), and Wil-o-Wisp (2018). Complemented by a group of new sculptures, this makes the exhibition at the Fridericianum the largest presentation of the artist’s work to date. Not only characteristic of Rose’s approach to art making, these works can be seen as individualized responses to subject matter particular to her interests. While these differ in each, she often explores how our relationship to landscape, storytelling, and belief systems are inseparably linked to one another. From supernaturalism in the modern era in Wil-o-Wisp to possible futures put forward by contemporary sciences in Sitting Feeding Sleeping, the artist reveals commonalities toward concepts of mortality. Meanwhile, works such as Lake Valley and Everything and More imagine alternate sensory experiences – from abandonment in children’s stories to zero gravity in outer space – that contribute to our understanding of what it means to be human. As such, this exhibition traces how Rose visualizes fundamentally existential concerns, using the past to address how present conditions shape our conceptions of impermanence.

Rose uses a wide range of filmic techniques to realize her work. From collaging footage to, most recently, narrative filmmaking, she draws from and contributes to a long history of cinematic innovation. Yet, irrespective of these different approaches, the artist has developed a consistent method of projection and installation to immerse and affect the viewer’s physical and psychological experience of moving image and sound. Alongside her moving image works, a new series of sculptural objects made from glass and various minerals will be shown at the Fridericianum. These originate from the egg form, which often appears in Rose’s work; most recently as physical manifestations featured in Autoscopic Egg and the glass-blown lenses Optical Eggs (2018–19) that accompany the video installation of Wil-o-Wisp. From the collectively titled series Born (2019–), nine specially produced pieces will be displayed in a separate oval-shaped room designed specifically for this exhibition. While the symbol of the egg is typically regarded as a sign of fertility, reproduction, and transformation, these sculptures nevertheless encapsulate Rose’s working methodology since they are derived from and connect to several key aspects of her recent practice, namely the history of glass, topography, and the collaging of materials – subjects and techniques she often revisits.

The first Virtual Exhibition created by the documenta archiv explores the question in which way Bauhaus concepts have inscribed themselves in the documenta idea. It will be available from August 15, 2019 at www.documenta-bauhaus.de.

In an art-historical approach, the exhibition follows indications as to the extent to which the first four documenta exhibitions referred to the Bauhaus or were influenced by it. The most important actors, the institutions involved, the exhibited works, the understanding of art and the visual appearance of the documenta are examined. In addition to vivid illustrations, numerous impressive features, cross-references and background information will enrich the narratives.

Nine stories and fourteen close-ups by Verena Bornmann, Laura Diermann, Martin Groh, Birgit Jooss, Harald Kimpel, Andrea Linnenkohl and Anna Rühl illuminate the spectrum.

The Virtual Exhibition is part of the project "Bauhaus | documenta"

Curator: Birgit Jooss

Stories
Arnold Bode's first plan for documenta: art across national and genre borders

Bauhaus artists at the first documenta, 1955

b + d – A comparison of visual identity

Bauhaus artists at the second documenta, 1959

Experiences and principles of the Bauhaus for the New Kassel Werkakademie in the postwar period

Kassel in the 1920s - contacts to the Bauhaus

Applied art and design – the first three documenta exhibitions and their relation to Bauhaus ideas

Arnold Bode's contacts in Berlin in the early 1930s

Bauhaus artists at the third documenta, 1964

Close-ups
Werner Haftmann, the gray eminence of documenta

"A pantheon of superior men": Bauhaus artists in photo portraits

"Quintessence" of New Building: Bauhaus architectures in photo portraits

Fritz Winter - From Bauhaus to documenta

Hans Soeder and the reformation of the Kassel Art Academy

Arnold Bode as designer

The Rasch Wallpaper Factory - a cooperation project with the Bauhaus and Arnold Bode


The Städtische Werklehrer-Seminar in Berlin

The Kroll Opera in Berlin – connections to Kassel and Dessau

"Do German designers have to be furious?" – the case of Wagenfeld

Primary colors and shapes at the Bauhaus

Brian Jungen's "Dog Run" at documenta 13

Exhibitions
Lucas Arruda Deserto-Modelo
Ron Nagle Euphoric Recall
June 6 to September 8, 2019
Opening: Wednesday, June 5, 2019, at 7 pm (BBQ from 6 pm)

Press Preview: Tuesday, June 4, 2019, 11.30 am Fridericianum, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel

Speakers:
Welcome address: Dr. Sabine Schormann, Director General documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
Introduction: Moritz Wesseler, Director Fridericianum
Exhibition tour with Moritz Wesseler

We look forward to your participation.
Please register under press@fridericianum.org

The exhibitions Deserto-Modelo by Lucas Arruda and Euphoric Recall by Ron Nagle mark the beginning of the program put together by the new Fridericianum director Moritz Wesseler.

With Lucas Arruda and Ron Nagle, the Fridericianum is presenting two artists who represent very disparate aspects of current art production and who are at decidedly different phases in the development of their artistic/intellectual voices. Whereas the former’s chosen path is painting, he hails from South America and by the time he had reached his early 30s had already formulated a remarkably lucid oeuvre, one which is now starting to receive international attention, the latter is a sculptor, has his roots in North America and with a consistent oeuvre spanning six decades can be considered a master of his métier. What they have in common is a passionate and even obsessive devotion to their chosen themes and areas of work, which accounts for the singularity of the art they produce.

The presentation of the work of Arruda and Nagle will be followed, in October 2019, by a comprehensive show of the oeuvre of artist Rachel Rose, who was born in 1986 and works with time-based media and sculpture, and in February 2020 by an exhibition of the work of painter Forrest Bess, who died in 1977. It will be the largest European show on Bess’ work in over 30 years. As such, with his new program for the Fridericianum Moritz Wesseler is on the one hand focusing attention on those artists who have to date been denied a platform in Germany in the institutional context, and, on the other, offering everyone an opportunity to rediscover historical positions that were for a long time obscured, despite having great relevance for current discourse.

Lucas Arruda Deserto-Modelo Deserto-Modelo is the title of the Fridericianum’s presentation of the first larger-scale institutional solo show by the artist Lucas Arruda, who was born in São Paulo in 1983. Arruda’s work comprises paintings, prints, light installations, slide projections and films. It reflects his intensive, dedicated examination of a wide spectrum of subjects, ranging from the conceptual framework of the genre that is painting to the existential conditions of life itself. A particular feature of Arruda’s praxis is his portrayal of landscapes and seascapes, although his work never references specific locations. On the contrary, he is concerned with capturing those imaginary places evoked by thoughts of landscapes and seascapes, and with looking into the light conditions, atmospheres and emotions connected with them. However, many of his works are characterized by such a degree of abstraction that the reference to a landscape is only suggested by the horizon lines that are present to varying extents.

Independent of the degree of their legibility, his visual formulations give rise to a moment of deceleration and concentration, which, in these increasingly fast-paced times we live in, takes us by surprise and, with its insistent yet peaceful power, raises not least the question as to which rhythms life follows in this globalized world.

Ron Nagle Euphoric Recall For more than six decades now, Ron Nagle has been producing works characterized by the fact that they manifest a maximum height of 20 cm. Despite their limited heights, these works, made among other things of ceramics, plastics, glazing agents and car paint, boast a presence and an effect which could hardly be more impressive. This accounts for the unique status of Nagle’s work within the sculpture genre and results from his works’ interplay of unusual shapes, diverse colors and tactile surfaces. Accordingly, in his objects, shapes with an organic feel to them meet architectural elements, brightly gleaming colors are confronted with unobtrusive, restrained hues and rough, porous surfaces contrasted with high-gloss ones. His work is not only uncommonly fresh, soulful and sophisticated; it is also mysterious and sometimes surreal. Nagle moreover provides his work with additional levels of meaning by furnishing it with elaborate titles which are usually characterized by a great propensity for wordplay and humor.

Euphoric Recall at the Fridericianum is the first solo show in Germany by Nagle, who was born in San Francisco in 1939. An artist book is being published to mark the show, which is being realized in cooperation with the Vienna Secession.

Image material for download available here: https://fridericianum.org/presse/

Dr. Sabine Schormann: "I am very sorry that I cannot be in Kassel today. It means a lot to me that this important documenta 14 art work is now permanently back in Kassel's centre. The fact that it was possible to rebuild it at the Treppenstrasse is due not least thanks to the citizens of Kassel, who have worked to preserve it. My sincere thanks go to them as well as to all those responsible and to the artist, Olu Oguibe. The city society is now invited to welcome the obelisk to its new location at a citizens' festivity. Treppe 4 invites everyone on Saturday 11 May 2019".

Nominated unanimously by the International Finding Committee the Supervisory Board appointed ruangrupa, a collective of artists and creatives from Jakarta, Indonesia, with a ten-member core as the artistic direction of documenta 15. This was announced by the general director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Dr. Sabine Schormann, today. As a result, documenta will be organized by an artist collective for the first time. documenta 15 takes place from 18 June to 25 September 2022 in Kassel.

For the eight-member Finding Committee, Elvira Dyangani Ose (director of The Showroom, London) and Philippe Pirotte (director of the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule, and director of Portikus, Frankfurt am Main) gave the following reasons for the unanimous decision: “We have appointed ruangrupa because they have demonstrated the ability to appeal to various communities, including groups that go beyond pure art audiences, and to promote local commitment and participation. Their curatorial approach is based on an international network of local community-based art organizations. We are eager to see how ruangrupa will develop a concrete project for and from Kassel. At a time when innovative strength particularly stems from independent organizations active on the community level, it seems only logical to offer this collective approach a platform with documenta.”

The Indonesian word ruangrupa loosely translates as “a space for art” or “a space form.” This field of tension is already apparent from the collective’s central curatorial approach. Farid Rakun and Ade Darmawan, who represented ruangrupa today in Kassel, formulated their decidedly participatory curatorial goals for the international art exhibition in 2022 as follows: “We want to create a globally oriented, cooperative, interdisciplinary art and culture platform that will have an impact beyond the 100 days of documenta 15. Our curatorial approach aims at a different community-oriented model of resource usage – economical, but also taking ideas, knowledge, programs and innovations into account. If documenta was launched in 1955 to heal war wounds, why shouldn’t we focus documenta 15 on today’s injuries, especially ones rooted in colonialism, capitalism, or patriarchal structures, and contrast them with partnership-based models that enable people to have a different view of the world.”

The collective was founded in 2000 in Jakarta, Indonesia. ruangrupa runs an art space in South Jakarta and realizes exhibitions, festivals, publications and radio formats. 
The collective has participated in many cooperation and exhibition projects, including the Gwangju Biennale (2002 und 2018), the Istanbul Biennale (2005), the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Brisbane, 2012), the Singapore Biennale (2011), the São Paulo Biennale (2014), the Aichi Triennale (Nagoya, 2016) and Cosmopolis at Centre Pompidou (Paris, 2017). In 2016, ruangrupa curated TRANSaction: Sonsbeek 2016 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In 2018, the participants founded GUDSKUL, an educational and networking project for creatives based on cooperative work.

At documenta 14, ruangrupa participated with its internet radio station as a partner of the decentralized radio project Every Time a Ear di Soun, which brought together eight worldwide radio stations. ruangrupa is a nonprofit organisation. At least one member of the organisation will spend a lot of time in Kassel for the preparation of documenta 15. 
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, welcomed the Finding Committee’s selection: 
“For ruangrupa, the principle of networking is of central importance. From Kassel, interdisciplinary artistic interventions will be initiated, which will make the documenta city visible internationally and bring the (art) world to Kassel, as it were. Our city can only benefit from this. I am pleased that documenta is looking to the future in such an exciting way.”

The Hessian Minister of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, Angela Dorn, stresses the potential of social debate: “I am already looking forward to the fact that in three years, with documenta 15, Kassel will again be hosting the world’s most important contemporary art exhibition. The state of Hesse is proud to enable this platform, which promotes discussion of cultural positions today as well as perspectives for the future. With the expansion of the documenta archive into an independent research institute we will further strengthen contemporary art in Kassel. I congratulate the Finding Committee, which proposed the Indonesian artist collective for the artistic direction of the next documenta, and am pleased that the Supervisory Board followed this suggestion. With the selection, documenta is consciously giving room to the non-European view of the art world and bringing the world to Hesse in a completely new way. ruangrupa uses art in its home country to address public issues and problems. I’m looking forward to seeing how they incorporate this idea in documenta 15.”

Hortensia Völckers, director of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, is eagerly looking forward to seeing how the concept is developed further: “As the German Federal Cultural Foundation, we were very pleased about the successful course of the process to find the artistic direction of documenta 15 and congratulate all participants on a result that makes us expect an interesting and inspiring documenta. We are happy to be part of this process and to be able to contribute our expertise to such a renowned exhibition project.”

Sabine Schormann paid tribute to the great commitment of all members of the international Finding Committee: “I would like to thank the international Finding Committee for a dedicated and intensive selection process, which with the presentation of ruangrupa as Artistic Direction sends a strong signal for a vibrant and sustainable documenta 15. I am looking forward to see how the participatory approaches are made more specific in the development process.”

The Finding Committee for documenta 15 is composed of the following experts: 
Ute Meta Bauer, founding director, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands; Amar Kanwar, artist and documentary filmmaker, New Delhi, India; Frances Morris, director of Tate Modern in London, Great Britain; Gabi Ngcobo, curator of the 10th Berlin Biennale 2018 in Germany (South Africa); Elvira Dyangani Ose, director of The Showroom London, England; Philippe Pirotte, director of the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule Frankfurt/M., Germany (Belgium); Jochen Volz, director of Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil.

Please download images here.

You can follow the press conference here

The exhibition "Bauhaus | documenta. Vision and Brand" reflects for the first time the Bauhaus and documenta in comparison. This year’s 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus provides an opportunity to look at the development of both institutions, which have become cultural brands, and to question them critically at the same time: Where do the brands remain true to themselves as a commitment to innovation and progress, where are they part of an interest-guided appropriation? In this way, the exhibition also offers an insight into the role and function that art and culture can play in a society today.

Based on installations, documentary objects, statistical material and some high-quality original artworks, the exhibition creates a parkour across seven thematic spaces, ranging from the emergence and initial visions of both cultural institutions to today's reception. Among the artists on display are Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Bazon Brock, Hans Haacke, Wassily Kandinsky, Barbara Klemm, Aleksandr Ptuschko and Gilles Raynaldy.

The exhibition is accompanied by a virtual exhibition under the title "How much Bauhaus is in documenta? A search for clues and a publication that brings together all project components and will be published by Spector Books in May. In addition, Heinz Bude is organizing a symposium under the title "Have we really never been modern? Bauhaus and documenta in true affinity" taking place at the Kunsthochschule Kassel from 14-15 June 2019).

On the theoretical discourse Two cultural brands and their development. The conceptual reflections on the exhibition and its contents

Bauhaus and documenta are two globally successful cultural brands that stand for a cosmopolitan, innovative and modern Germany. Both were created against the backdrop of civil disruptions - both exemplify the idea of the emancipative power of art and culture, which enrich the lives of the individual, reflect social coexistence and promote social progress. While the Bauhaus wanted to confront the crisis of industrialization and the damage caused by the First World War through the design of things, spaces and buildings, documenta took up the romantic idea of dealing with visual art, through which people should once again become responsible citizens. While the Bauhaus wanted to "intervene" in the future of our public and private lives, as a result of as well as in addition to its artistic engagement with products, and quickly developed itself into a brand with many sub-brands, documenta had to repeatedly "work through" its significance as a brand until today. This at the interface to marketing and the demands of its own successful "profitability" - and protect its own autonomy. Although both were and are subject to a variety of changes in their different developments, their demands have remained and continue to shape the perception and self-image of both brands - in their motifs, strategies and successes.

A project of the documenta archiv and the University of Kassel in cooperation with Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel

Project heads Birgit Jooss, Philipp Oswalt

Curators of the exhibition Philipp Oswalt, Daniel Tyradellis

Curator of the virtual exhibition Birgit Jooss

Conception of the symposium Heinz Bude

Press contact

documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH

Johanna Köhler

T +49 561 70727-2520

presse@documenta.de

https://www.documenta-archiv.de/bauhaus-documenta

At their meeting yesterday, November 28, 2018, the commitees of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH set the course for documenta’s future.

On the one hand, the financial plan for 2019 was passed, while on the other benchmarks were discussed for the five-year-plan until 2023 with the goal of securing the planning and implementation for documenta 15, which will take place from June 18–September 25, 2022.

With an eye on artistic needs as well as general increases in costs and greater demands in terms of security, sustainability, and visitor services, the budget planning for documenta 15 will include an appropriate increase in funding.

Over the past few months, initial structural changes were undertaken for documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH to secure continuous quality and a basic structure that future artistic teams can rely upon. These include the establishment of a controlling mechanism and the introduction of a new department of communication and marketing.

In finalizing the closure of accounts for 2017, the shareholders also have agreed to each bear half of the costs of the financial gap left after documenta 14 that initially were calculated at 5.4 million euros which now – after finalization of the audit – are calculated as 7.6 million euros. This gap resulted in part due to the implementation of the chosen concept of a documenta exhibition held in two locations.

“Now concrete planning can begin for documenta 15”, in the words of Christian Geselle, Kassel’s Lord Mayor and chairman of the supervisory board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. “The finding committee is in the midst of the selection process, the expanded team around director general Dr. Sabine Schormann has been on board since November, and the new director of Fridericianum Moritz Wesseler also began in November: all in all, after a brief period between rough waters and lulls, as can happen on any sea journey, the ship is now back on course. Thanks for this positive development go to the interim CEO Wolfgang Orthmayr, and director general Dr. Sabine Schormann, who over the past few months have worked hand in hand intensely on these issues.”

“There is likely to be a great deal of debate in times to come, that’s virtually part of the DNA of one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art worldwide,” according to Boris Rhein, Hessian Minister for Science and Art and deputy chairman of the supervisory board. “documenta invents itself each time anew, daring to take risks in artistic and curatorial terms, taking a stand on social and political issues. Respective discussions are explicitly welcome. With the decisions of the supervisory board and the above mentioned structural changes we now have created a solid foundation for documentas future."

“We are pleased about the faith that the supervisory board and the shareholders place in documenta and the important role it plays in society’s overall development, and we will continue intently to build on the future of documenta with our highly motivated and competent team,” in the words of the director general of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH Dr. Sabine Schormann.

documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH has appointed Moritz Wesseler as new director of Kassel’s Fridericianum as of November 1, 2018. The selection committee included: Krist Gruijthuijsen, director KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Bettina Steinbrügge, director Hamburger Kunstverein, René Zechlin, director Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen, and Dr. Sabine Schormann, designated general director, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH.

The 37-year-old art historian and curator Moritz Wesseler was previously director of Kölnischer Kunstverein where he realized exhibitions with artists of international renown including Pietro Roccasalva, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Andra Ursuta, Annette Kelm, Darren Bader, Petrit Halilaj, João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva, Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili, Stephen G. Rhodes, Uri Aran, Andro Wekua, Christiana Soulou, Avery Singer, Danny McDonald, Talia Chetrit, Adriano Costa, Cameron Jamie, Alex Da Corte, and Walter Price. Parallel to organizing these presentations, a special emphasis of his programming was placed on outreach and publicity with the goal of opening Kölnischer Kunstverein to a wider audience. Lectures, conversations, concerts, and performances were held at the institution on a regular basis, while the introduction of the so-called Vereinsgabe, an edition series free of cost to association members with contributions by artists such as Rosemarie Trockel, Lawrence Weiner, Kai Althoff, Isa Genzken and Luc Tuymans, led to a boom in new membership. Moritz Wesseler is the successor of Susanne Pfeffer, who in early 2018 took a position at Frankfurt’s Museum für Moderne Kunst.

Christian Geselle, Kassel’s lord mayor and chairman of the board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, welcomes the decision: “With Moritz Wesseler, we have been able to gain a promising young director who intends to continue the great tradition of Fridericianum as a location of encounter and exchange with contemporary art into the future and to network the institution with important players from the region and around the world.

”Boris Rhein, Hessen’s Minister for Science and the Arts and deputy chairman of the board, sees the new director of Fridericianum as a great opportunity to continue positioning the institution as a central location for contemporary art and to meet with an even greater audience response: “Moritz Wesseler has shown in Cologne that his demanding exhibitions found acceptance among a broad audience. We are convinced that he will continue to build bridges in Kassel.”

“Fridericianum is an outstanding exhibition institution and plays an important role for Kassel’s reputation in the world,” in the words of Moritz Wesseler. “I look forward to moving to the city of the documenta and continuing the wonderful tradition of my predecessors. My goal is to offer a platform for key players in the realm of contemporary art still largely unknown in Germany. In addition, I intend to strengthen the institution’s connection within the city and the local region.”

“I look forward to working with Moritz Wesseler,” says Dr. Sabine Schormann, designated general director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. “Our joint goal is to keep Fridericianum’s tradition as a vital location of contemporary art.”

On Moritz Wesseler

Moritz Wesseler, born in Bremerhaven in 1980, studied business and art history in Mainz and Paris. Even as a student, he began organizing exhibitions with artists such as Cathy Wilkes, Martin Boyce, Ceal Floyer, and Manfred Pernice. In addition, he edited artist’s books and catalogues on Gregor Schneider, Luc Tuymans, and Anri Sala, and began building up the archive of Bremerhaven’s Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst. After completing his studies, he took a position at Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf; later he was involved in organizing the exhibition series Double at Frankfurt’s Museum für Moderne Kunst and conceived the initiative Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch in Donaueschingen and Heiligenberg, which features a fellowship and exhibition program. Besides working as a curator, he also publishes widely on twentieth century and contemporary art and participates in important juries on a national and international level. He has been serving as Hamburg’s Curator von Neue Kunst since September 2017.

On Fridericianum

Museum Fridericianum opened in 1779 as the world’s first museum intended for the public from the very beginning. Conceived in the spirit of the Enlightenment and designed by Huguenot architect Simon Louis du Ry, Fridericianum in the following years experienced a history marked by various disruptions but remained a venue of historical import.

Since 1988, Fridericianum has been a central location of contemporary art. Significant positions and artistic currents and socially relevant questions are taken up, presented, and negotiated. The institution presents solo shows by international artists that often involve spatially expansive installations. Retrospectives are also part of the program. Thematically speaking, positions by artists critical of society and the period are given pride of place. Screenings and performances, conferences and symposia round out the program, covering the spectrum of contemporary art and debate.

Preparations for documenta 15, which will take place in Kassel from 18 June to 25 September 2022, are progressing as planned. The Finding Committee for d 15 is in place. In accordance with the circular resolution recently presented to the members of the Supervisory Board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, the following experts have been appointed for the purpose of selecting the Artistic Director of documenta 15:

• Ute Meta Bauer, Founder and Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Singapore • Charles Esche, Director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands
• Amar Kanwar, artist, New Delhi, India
• Frances Morris, Director of the Tate Modern in London, Great Britain
• Gabi Ngcobo, Curator of the 10th Berlin Biennale 2018, South Africa
• Elvira Dyangani Ose, Curator, Creative Time, New York, USA
(Director of The Showroom in London, Great Britain, effective September 2018)
• Philippe Pirotte, Director of the Staatl. Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule in Frankfurt/M., Germany (Belgium)
• Jochen Volz, Director of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil

The task facing the Finding Committee constituted on the basis of the recommendation by designated General Director Dr. Sabine Schormann is to appoint an Artistic Director for the 15th edition of documenta, which is regarded as the most important exhibition of contemporary art in the world.

Kassel’s Mayor Christian Geselle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, expressed pleasure in noting that preparations for documenta 15 are now picking up speed. “documenta is an essential forum for contemporary art and, as the legacy of Arnold Bode, a treasure that enhances the image of the city of Kassel. I am very pleased to note that an international finding commission composed of outstanding experts has been chosen to find an artistic director for documenta 15. And we are right on schedule. I wish to express special thanks to Dr. Sabine Schormann, who has played an instrumental role in preparations for the appointment of members of the Finding Committee, even though she will not officially assume her duties as General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH in Kassel until 1 November 2018.”

As Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hessian Minister of Art and Culture Boris Rhein also expressed thanks to Dr. Sabine Schormann for having made such an important contribution to the process of forming the Finding Commission before taking office as General Director. “We are proud to realize that documenta in Kassel has gained global recognition as one of the most significant and best-known international exhibitions of contemporary art in the world. For the city of Kassel and the state of Hesse, this high honor goes hand in hand with the obligation to ensure that such an ambitious exhibition can be successful in the future as well and that the artistic director chosen by the Finding Commission is equipped with the means to achieve that goal. However, that objective represents both a duty and an incentive for the future artistic director as well. documenta is ideally suited for the purpose of learning from history and thus enabling us to look with courage to the future.”

“In view of the members’ expertise, their extensive network of ties within the cosmos of contemporary art and their different artistic and curatorial approaches, I am confident that the Finding Commission will succeed in appointing an outstanding curator to the position of Artistic Director by early next year,” said Dr. Sabine Schormann. “Personally, I am very eager to see where the journey takes us and whether documenta 15 will be more concerned with such issues as sharing and participation, intercultural networking, performance and discourse, the role of digital media or our approach to the use of public space – to name only a few conceivable focal points of interest.”

Brief biographies of the members of the Finding Commission:

• Ute Meta Bauer (*Stuttgart, 1958)
Ute Meta Bauer has served as an international curator and professor of contemporary art and as the founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Singapore since 2013. She studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg. She was Artistic Director of the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart from 1990 to 1994. Ute Meta Bauer has worked as an independent curator since 1985 and held several different adjunct academic positions: as Associate Professor for Visual Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2005 to 2012, as Dean of Fine Arts at the Royal College of Art in London in 2012 and 2013 and as Professor of Theory and Practice in Contemporary Art at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna. She served as founding Director of the Office for Contemporary Art in Norway from 2002 to 2005, Artistic Director of the 3rd Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art in 2004, Director of the MIT Visual Arts Program from 2005 to 2009 and founding Director of the Program for Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) from 2009-2012. She has worked as co-curator for several different exhibition events, including the World Biennial Forum No. 1 in Gwangju, South Korea in 2012 and documenta 11. Ute Meta Bauer chairs the Beirat für Bildende Kunst of the Goethe–Institutes and is a member of the scholarly Advisory Board of the Stiftung Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany.

• Charles Esche (*England, 1963)
Charles Esche is a museum director and art curator who lives in Edinburgh and Eindhoven. Esche has served as Director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands, since 2004. From 2000 to 2004 he was Director of the Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art in Malmö, Sweden. He worked for Tramway in Glasgow (from 1993 to 1997) and has helped launch an art education program called the Proto-academy at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1997.
In 2012, Esche joined six other European museums to found L'Internationale confederation as a European institution devoted to modern and contemporary art. He has curated numerous international biennials. Charles Esche is a professor of Curating and Contemporary Art at the University of the Arts in London and Co-Editorial Director of the Afterall Journal and Afterall Books (with Mark Lewis).

• Amar Kanwar (*New Delhi, 1964)
Amar Kanwar is an Indian artist and documentary filmmaker who lives and works in New Delhi. Kanwar is concerned with the recent and past history of the Indian subcontinent and especially with the Indo-Pakistani wars. He has produced more than 40 video installations and films, which have been presented at various exhibitions and at a number of international museums, including the Biennale of Sydney in 2006, documenta exhibitions 11, 12, 13 and 14, kw-Berlin, the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, the Stedelijik Museum in Amsterdam and the Haus der Kunst in Munich. Kanwar has received awards at the film festivals in San Francisco, Mumbai and Turin and was honored with the Award for Contemporary Art by a foundation established by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture in 2005.

• Frances Morris (*London, 1959)
Frances Morris has played a key role in the development of the Tate Galleries. Engaged as a curator in 1987, she was appointed Head of Displays at the Tate Modern in 2000 and has served as Director of Collection, International Art (from 2006 to 2016) and Director of the Tate Modern since 2016. Morris has curated several pioneering exhibitions, including most notably major retrospectives devoted to women artists, several of which were presented as broad-based international cooperative projects. Morris holds a BA in Art History from Cambridge University and an MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She is a member of the boards of the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh and CIMAM as well as the Advisory Committee of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto.

• Gabi Ngcobo (*South Africa, 1974)
Gabi Ngcobo is an artist, independent curator and art educator who lives in Johannesburg. She studied at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York and has been a member of the faculty of the Wits University School of Arts in Johannesburg since 2011. Ngcobo founded the Center for Historical Reenactments in Johannesburg in 2010 and is now serving as its director. She curated the 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art in 2018.

• Elvira Dyangani Ose (*Spain, 1964)
Elvira Dyangi Ose has been a curator at Creative Time in New York since 2017. She will assume her duties as Director of the Schowroom in London in September 2018. Ose studied Art History at the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona and Architectural Theory at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. She earned a Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Studies at Cornell University in New York. Elvira Dyangasi Ose worked as a curator at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) on Gran Canaria from 2004 to 2006 and at the CENTRO ANDALUZ DE ARTE CONTEMPORANEO (Andalusian Center for Contemporary Art) from 2006 to 2008. In 2009 and 2010 she served as curator for the Arte Invisible Program of ARCOmadrid. Between 2011 and 2014 she worked as a curator of international art at the Tate Modern in London, where she was responsible for developing the art collections from Africa and the African diaspora. Since 2014 she teaches Visual Studies at Goldsmiths University of London and in 2015 she curated the eighth International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) in Göteborg.

• Philippe Pirotte (*Antwerp, Belgium, 1972)
Philippe Pirotte lives and works in Frankfurt as Dean of the Städelschule and Director of Kunsthalle Portikus
Next to that he is adjunct senior curator at the University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. He serves as an advisor for the Kadist Art Foundation (Paris/San Francisco).Pirotte was one of the co-founders (in 1999) of the contemporary art center Objectif_Exhibitions in Antwerp, Belgium, and was the organization’s artistic director till 2005. From 2004 to 2013, Pirotte held the position of Senior Advisor at the Rijksakademie for Visual Arts in Amsterdam. From 2005 to 2011, he was Director of the Kunsthalle Bern in Switzerland. As a freelance curator Pirotte co-curated and organized a.o. exhibitions for the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt (2014); for the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2001); the Weltkulturenmuseum Frankfurt (2015), for TOP contemporary Art Space Shanghai; for the Shanghai Biennale; the Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo or the Fundación Celarg in Caracas, Venezuela. He also served as Advising Program Director for the Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing. He was curator of the 2016 edition of La Biennale de Montréal, and he was part of the curatorial team of the 2017 Jakarta Biennale. Philippe Pirotte has written numerous essays about contemporary art and artists.

• Jochen Volz (*Braunschweig, 1971)
Jochen Volz is an art historian and exhibition curator. He was appointed Director of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil, in 2017. Volz studied Art History, Communication and Education at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and Humboldt-Universität in Berlin from 1993 to 1999. Jochen Volz served as a curator at the Portikus Ausstellungshalle in Frankfurt am Main from 2001 to 2004, as Head of Programmes at the Serpentine Galleries in London from 2012 to 2015 and as Curator of the 32nd Biennale do São Paulo in 2016. He curated the Brazilian Pavilion at the 57th Biennale di Venezia in 2017

After months of tension, the documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH has kicked off to a promising future: Dr Sabine Schormann, currently responsible for two major arts trusts in northern Germany, will take up the key management position of general director. The contracts were signed yesterday (Tuesday) evening.

As Kassel’s mayor and supervisory board chairman of the documenta, Christian Geselle, emphasized that with Dr Schormann a competent personality has been found to give the documenta a solid basis and a new approach. “It is time to look forward. On the 18th of June 2022 the documenta 15 will open in Kassel. It has always been my intention that the people of Kassel and the world can look at our future world art exhibitions positively and enthusiastically with great anticipation,“ said Geselle.

With Wolfgang Orthmayr’s interim occupancy of the management, the current business has been secured. He will manage the business in close co-operation with Dr Sabine Schormann until her move to Kassel this autumn. The search for a new director was supported by a world-leading human resources agency.

“I am really delighted to have found Dr Schormann, a leading person with international expertise in art and culture management,” said mayor Geselle with reference to her professional qualification. She takes over the leadership of the documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH after 18 years’ experience in her double function as director of the Lower-Saxony Sparkasse trust and the VGH trust in Hanover. Dr Schormann developed and shaped both trusts to their current significance. With a yearly budget of about 5 million euro the two trusts strengthen the cultural offering of Lower-Saxony, especially in the areas of visual arts, museums, music, literature, preservation of monuments and historical knowledge.

Sabine Schormann established the “National Day of Open Monuments” for the German trust for the protection of monuments. From 1996 to 2000 she managed the “Planet of Visions” and “The 21st Century” in the EXPO 2000 world exhibition theme park in Hanover.

The further development of the world’s most important art exhibition will profit from Dr Schormann’s professional competences, especially in the areas of art and museums, her innovative approach, her expertise managing complex institutions and major events, as well as her extensive experience in dealing with high quality art.

“I understand my role as ‘facilitator’. That means that with the documenta, I would like to strengthen art further with the biggest possible display and public perception, without involving myself artistically,” said Dr Schormann. In this respect she has the full support and confidence of the partners Kassel City and Hessen. Mayor Geselle: “Now we have the opportunity to bring documenta up to date and strengthen it lastingly”.

“I am pleased that we could attract Dr Sabine Schormann, a proven culture expert for this central position. This decision is an important further component with which we ensure that the documenta 15 will take place in 2022 as planned and will continue to be the first address for art friends from the whole world and will also stand on a solid foundation in future,“ said Hessen’s Minister for Science and Art and deputy supervisory board chairperson Boris Rhein. “The documenta is a great stroke of luck and treasure that we must protect for Hessen’s culture”.

One of Sabine Schormanns first tasks will be to initiate and accompany the search for an artistic director for the documenta 15 and for the Fridercianum art gallery. As director of the trust, i.a. responsible for the Lower-Saxony Music Days and the Literature Festival, she is convinced of the close exchange between the general management and the curatorial management: “I am aware of the expectation and the great responsibility and look forward to this challenging task.”

Dr Schormann will also support the documenta Institute's development process actively. In addition to these responsibilities, Dr Schormann would like to set the tone in Kassel in other respects – including and especially between the exhibition years – so as to highlight the local function and fixed positioning of the documenta, which is recognized as a platform for global artistic exchange.

Video of the presentation of Dr. Sabine Schormann as future director general of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH