Alongside the Venice Biennale, the documenta is the world’s most important exhibition of contemporary art. This year’s show is overshadowed by allegations of anti-Semitism. The first voices had already been raised in January, accusing the Indonesian curator collective Ruangrupa and some invited artists of being close to the anti-Israel boycott movement BDS. Shortly following the opening of the exhibition in mid-June, a banner with anti-Jewish motifs was discovered and taken down. Other works appeared later, triggering sharp criticism.
With the ten-person artist group Ruangrupa, a collective is curating the world art exhibition for the first time. documenta fifteen represents the Global South. The focus is not on the work, but on art as a collective process.
“The selection of the Ruangrupa collective has given us a multi-layered and stimulating broadening of horizons, the evaluation of which must not be over by a long shot,” said the documenta forum – a kind of circle of friends and supporters of the world art show. “Precisely because the documenta fifteen uses many inspirations to artistically address the issues that are currently evident worldwide, the documenta forum can well imagine that this world exhibition in particular will open a new page in the history of the documenta, which will look at this globe much more comprehensively than before takes.”
(S E R V I C E – https://documenta-fifteen.de)