The controversy that began with Documenta 15 has become much worse during the planning of Documenta 16 and now threatens the very life of this Kassel based, prestigious art forum.

I remember my first Documenta, it was truly impressive with diverse voices from Afghanistan, Palestine, India among others, that sensitively highlighted stories particular to their context. Exhibited alongside European art with its experimental edge, the experience was enriching and provocative. Most memorable, and worth mentioning here, was the work in which controlled streams of cool air in an empty room created a sensorial awakening, with temperature and air used as a medium. The Documenta 15 last year, was pushed into the media storm and brought home the reality that there was little tolerance for counter narratives. The backlash, both from the German administration and European art media, opened a new chapter of polarized thinking.

Just to refresh your memory, the Documenta 15 had appointed the Indonesian art collective ruangrupa as curators. Their curatorial premise around the lumbung (rice barn) ¹ explored this Indonesian tradition as artistic framework to put into practice the principles of collectivity, communal resource sharing, and equal allocation. Ruangrupa extended an invitation to community-oriented collectives, organizations, and institutions from around the world to exercise the timeless practices of sustainability and collective sharing. What took shape at Documenta 15 was unexpected at multiple levels and required the visitor, and the critic to approach it with an open mind. The art language was deconstructed into hybrid and informal vocabularies that focused on setting up models of working together. In some of the works, popular street art overlapped with formal expression focusing on the message through banners, billboards and makeshift structures. An experimental openness of combining available material with local skills, from diverse regions they came from, led to what appeared to be far different than the finished product of a formal studio practice.

The artists’ perception of the Documenta as safe space of sharing traumatic histories without politically correct interpretations— a place free from the oppression that many faced at home under authoritarian regimes, was soon to be proven wrong. The collectives found, to their surprise, that Europe was not ready to embrace diversity as its own wounds from colonial violence and World War II atrocities, were yet to heal.  Among the media and administration personnel there was a lack of readiness to examine dark histories objectively. With this, claims of freedom of expression and tolerance went out the window, and was replaced by harsh judgement and acute intolerance.

Ideological chasms widened when accusations of anti-semitism took the controversy to another level. A large painting by the Indonesian artist collective Taring Padi, titled ‘People’s Justice’, featured imagery that was labeled anti-Jewish (and was only viewed through the lens of the atrocities of Nazi regime), was in fact linked to Indonesia’s brutal past. These images by the artists were an evocation of the massacre of 2 million Indonesians who were targeted and persecuted for being Communist Party members, and their sympathizers, in the wake of the Cold War carried out by their state with the help of Israeli forces, and the subsequent nexus between Israeli state and Indonesian dictators to snatch the country’s natural resources from the people. The painting sought to give visibility to the trauma of genocide and the horror of missing people and unmarked graves that continues to haunt families.

In November 2023, the Committee to appoint the Documenta 16 curator ran into a roadblock when accusations of anti-semitism surfaced against one of the members, Ranjit Hoskote when a German newspaper traced his signature on a petition that condemned the relationship between right-wing Zionism and Hindu nationalism. This led him to resign, and along with him all other members finally left. This was a message to the Kassel that there was a need to speak out against the deadly season of silencing and censorship in Germany, where anyone speaking out to end the Palestinian genocide in Gaza is labeled anti- Semitic.

The resigning members of Documenta 16 co-signed a letter in which they said that the “emotional and intellectual climate of over-simplification of complex realities and its resulting restrictive limitations” made it “impossible for us to conceive of a strong and single exhibition project, and consequently to allow for a responsible continuation of the selection process to determine a curatorial concept for Documenta 16.”

The situation today is urgent if Documenta has to evolve into an inclusive art platform which is respectful of all points of view. This somehow does not seem very hopeful as Jörg Sperling, Chairman of the Documenta-Forum, during Documenta 15 had described the work ‘People’s Justice’ as a “subject that lies outside of art” and which art cannot solve, “documenta cannot solve that either”. This kind of statement seemed very uninformed as art has always represented the conscience of the people. The German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Claudia Roth, insisted on the work ‘People’s Justice’ to be anti-Semitic and declared, in an official statement, that the removal was “overdue” and “is only a first step”. It is this over simplification and one-sided view of a highly complex history does not bode well for an open and frank debate where opponents can agree to disagree, without being subjected to heavy handed silencing and erasure. It is a sign of a healthy democracy where diverse opinions can be accommodated and not browbeaten into agreement.

As controversy continued to haunt the Documenta, Germany’s culture minister also threatened to withdraw state funding from Documenta 16. Documenta’s Managing Director, Andreas Hoffmann, insisted “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.” The resigning members maintained and insisted on a more open attitude and wrote in their letter of resignation “In the current circumstances we do not believe that there is a space in Germany for an open exchange of ideas and the development of complex and nuanced artistic approaches that Documenta artists and curators deserve,”. Furthermore, the letter upheld their position, stating “We do not believe that any acceptable conditions can be created in short term and consider it to be disrespectful of Documenta’s legacy to simply remain content with the current situation.”

The latest figures show 29,313 Palestinians have been killed and 69,333 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7,2023. The atrocities against children have surpassed any past brutalities. There is no government with the will to implement the verdict of the International Court of Justice against the war crimes of Israel. The heavy censorship against people in Europe that speak of ceasefire in Gaza is one of the most oppressive seen in recent times. Canada and UK with subtle measures also have found ways to suppress pro-Palestinian opinions. This however has had the opposite impact, the sense of injustice has increased, so has the frustration against once open-minded forums like Documenta. Founded after World War II, these forums grew out of the traumatic human rights experiences in Europe, their mandate was to reflect the truth of the time. Documenta has unfortunately been crippled by its inability to respond to the changing landscape of global opinion, and lost its impartiality and credibility. With the current climate of censorship in Germany, even if Documenta continues, will it ever be autonomous as it was meant to be?

Title image: A large-scale banner, a figurative representation of “People’s Justice” by Taring Padi, a collective of underground artists from Indonesia, is pictured as staff members cover it during the documenta 15 contemporary art exhibition in Kassel on June 20, 2022. (AFP/Swen Pfortner)

Image courtesy thejakartapost.com