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SoSe 22: Documenta

Eric de Bruyn

Hinweise für Studierende

Es handelt sich um ein Blockseminar vor Ort in Kassel (2-3 Sitzungen zur Vorbereitung vorab in Berlin)

Kommentar

This summer the 15th edition of the documenta exhibition will take place from June 18 till September 25. Since its foundation in 1954, documenta has become one of the most significant, international exhibitions of contemporary art. This year, for the first time, the documenta will be organized by a collective rather than by (an) individual curator(s); namely, the Indonesian group ruangrupa (which may be translated as “art space” or “spatial form”). Ruangrupa has previously curated Sonsbeek 2016 and participated in several other international exhibitions such as the Gwangju Biennial (2002 and 2018), Istanbul biennial (2005) and the São Paulo Biennial (2014). The collective consists of ten members: The director, Ade Darmawan, and the artists Ajeng Nurul Aini, Daniella Fitria Praptono, Farid Rakun, Indra Ameng, Iswanto Hartono, Julia Sarisetiati, Mirwan Andan, Narpati Awangga and Reza Afisina. Ruangrupa sees its task as the promotion of “artistic ideas within urban and cultural contexts through the involvement of artists and other disciplines such as the social sciences, politics, technology or the media” (see https://documenta-fifteen.de). For the documenta, ruangrupa has invited several other artist groups, rather than individual (and established) artists. The list of participants consists mostly of collectives and organizations, which are engaged in developping the general theme of the documenta – lumbung – which translates as “rice barn” and refers to communal buildings in rural Indonesia where a community’s harvest is gathered, stored and distributed. Thus, lumbung serves as a metaphor for the guiding principles of this documenta: “collectivity, resource building and equitable distribution.” This documenta promises, in short, to be substantially different from its precursors. The seminar will be begin, in Berlin, with a recapitulation of the history of the documenta and a discussion of fundamentall texts on the genealogy of collective practice in contemporary art. It will be followed by a multi-day field trip to Kassel (dates to be determined) where the curatorial concept and critical reception of the documenta will be discussed in relation to specific parts of the exhibition. Schließen

Literaturhinweise

Introductory literature: Documenta. Politik und Kunst, ed. Raphael Gross et al. Berlin/München: Prestel Verlag, 2021; “Collectivity,” special issue of Texte zur Kunst 31, no. 124 (Dezember 2021); Shannon Jackson, Social Works: Performing Art, Supporting Publics. London: Routledge, 2011. Schließen