REVIEW

Documenta 15 review: social practice, controversy and food for thought Mired in evolving controversy

Documenta (stylized to documenta) is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.

Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural Show) which took place in Kassel at that time. It was an attempt to bring Germany up to speed with modern art, both banishing and repressing the cultural darkness of Nazism.

This first Documenta featured many artists who are generally considered to have had a significant influence on modern art (such as Picasso and Kandinsky). The more recent editions of the event feature artists based across the world, but much of the art is site-specific.

Every Documenta is limited to 100 days of exhibition, which is why it is often referred to as the "museum of 100 days". Documenta is not a selling exhibition.

Etymology

Documenta, an invented word, reflects the intention of the exhibition (in particular of the first Documenta in 1955) to be a documentation of modern art which was not available for the German public during the Nazi era.

Rumour spread from those close to Arnold Bode that it was relevant for the coinage of the term that the Latin word documentum could be separated into docere 'teach' and mens 'intellect', and therefore thought it to be a good word to describe the intention and the demand of Documenta. Each edition of Documenta has commissioned its own visual identity, most of which have conformed to the typographic style of solely using lowercase letters, which originated at the Bauhaus. documenta 7 included Joseph Beuys's social sculpture understandings through such initiatives as the 7000 HUMANS Global Social Forest, & Kassel's 7000 Oaks.

documenta 15 has raised critical questions about transparency, accountability and creative freedom. Emily McDermott travels to Kassel to explore how an edition filled with social practice art urges active participation and throws global power structures into sharp relief

October 9, 2022 in Features What did the ocean say to the beach? Nothing. It just waved.

So said an artist sitting across from my assistant in the Fridericianum, a museum in Kassel, Germany. On the wall behind them hung a handwritten sign reading ‘Free DADjokes.’ After the joke, we sat down across from another artist. As she sketched us, we perused books about events organised in Indonesia by Hysteria, the collective the artist is part of. On the table between us sat additional publications and an iPad playing an Indonesian news segment. From the table hung a sign: ‘Free Portrait Sketch’s [sic].’

To the left, another collective gave away sticky rice topped with soybean powder. To the right, a stand offered toothpicks jabbed through gouda cheese cubes and green grapes.

This was an event organised by educational platform Gudskul, and one of more than 35 events happening the weekend we were in town to see documenta 15 – a quinquennial exhibition in central Germany that draws international and regional crowds and is known for curatorial positions that reflect or even predict the zeitgeist.

Unlike previous editions of documenta, the artistic director appointed for 2022 was a collective, ruangrupa, rather than an individual curator. The JAKARTAbased NONprofit is dedicated to promoting artistic ideas in various contexts through an interdisciplinary approach, where art meets social science, politics, technology, and more.

With this ethos in mind, they built the foundations of documenta on the core values and ideas of lumbung, [LINK] the:

Indonesian term for a communal rice barn;
First by inviting five collaborators to become the artistic team;
Together with whom they then recruited 14 collectives, organisations, and initiatives to become LUMBUNGmembers;
Each of the member groups subsequently engaged more collectives, many of whom then used their budgets to invite others to join their processes.

The result? A sprawling web of collective artistic and social practices that activate 32 venues and public spaces in what can only be described as a 100-day-long, somewhat ad hoc festival.

In other words, it’s a far cry from any kind of carefully curated, fixed exhibition.

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“the word “silo” does not just refer to a physical structure or organization (such as a department). It can also be a state of mind. Silos exist in structures. But they exist in our minds and social groups too.

Silos breed tribalism. But they can also go hand in hand with tunnel vision.”

Gillian Tett,

The Silo Effect:

The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers