Et is a relaxed atmosphere at the Documenta in Kassel. Groups of art lovers push their way through the exhibition rooms. Again and again people sit in a circle, massage each other, hold threads or hammer something, true to the official motto “make friends not art”. Collective practice is the keyword of this year’s world art show.
And one is surprised that the result is often nothing more than a sitting circle atmosphere – with a few exceptions, such as the video work by Hito Steyerl. This also includes the fact that criticism of the brutalities of global capitalism often comes with recourse to culture, tradition and the collective, so that a few anti-Semitic depictions hardly get any further in the mixture of practice fetishism, do-it-yourself glorification and ethno-kitsch labeled as resistance stand out.
On the central Friedrichsplatz, not even the scaffolding of the anti-Semitic installation “People’s Justice” (2002) by the Indonesian artists’ collective Taring Padi, with which it all started, no longer announces itself. Everything cleaned up, everything good? The cardboard figures that were set up around the square are collected in the backyard of the Fridericianum.
Here, too, things are relaxed. The Indonesian coffee tastes good, you wash the cups yourself. The scandal seems far away, as if it took place exclusively in the media. The commentators are still outdoing each other on social media, but on the ground the situation is much less agitated. Just a hundred meters away, on the facade of a C&A, there is another large-format picture of Taring Padi, on the other side of the Fulda in the Hallenbad Ost there are hundreds more of her large-format, figure-rich paintings and cardboard cutouts.
Dismantled: questionable protest poster by Taring Padi on Kassel’s Friedrichsplatz
Source: Nathan Giwerzew/WELT
The much-criticized appearance in the Hübner area by the collective Subversive Film today shows film propaganda by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the 1970s and 1980s without any explanation. A few youngsters giggle but don’t even look at the screen, others take advantage of the cool, dark room for a short nap. Meanwhile, in the background, Arafat explains the fascist character of imperialist Zionism. The fact that performers from a collective are said to have argued loudly with visitors a few days ago about whether the Israelis are doing the same thing to the Palestinians as the Nazis were doing to the Jews is reported, but no similar scenes can be observed.
It has also been quiet in the past few days because all events in the Documenta team have been canceled due to numerous corona cases. Operations only resumed on the evening of June 29th. Now it should get down to business. Under the title “Anti-Semitism in Art”, Documenta and the Anne Frank educational institution invited participants to a discussion.
The expectations were high. What should now take place is what has been unsuccessfully demanded or canceled for weeks and months: a debate with all those involved. And indeed, some of them gathered on the podium – but other important figures of the scandal only in the audience. And so the evening showed above all how complicated the situation has become.
Angela Dorn (The Greens), Hessian Minister for Science and Art
Source: dpa
One wants to listen and learn, said a representative of the Ruangrupa curator collective in a spontaneous speech from the audience, which also included Documenta Director General Sabine Schormann. Listen and learn, that was also the tenor of the welcome address by the Hessian Minister for Art and Science, Angela Dorn.
And the philosopher Nikita Dhawan, as a representative of postcolonial theory, and Adam Szymczyk, as a representative of the art world and curator of the previous Documenta, also agreed. Meron Mendel from the Anne Frank educational center and especially Doron Kiesel as representative of the Central Council of Jews then had to draw attention to the fact that dialogue was not sought and not conducted.
Ade Darmawan, spokesman for the Ruangrupa curatorial collective
Source: dpa
Dorn found clear words. As early as January, together with Claudia Roth, she had proposed a commission, unsuccessfully. Now a “process of clarification” must begin. The minister called for a joint effort. Anti-Semitism cannot be removed by decree. And above all, you have to look at the situation here, because anti-Semitism in Germany has not been overcome. There is no reason for superiority, Dorn continued, the world has never recovered from the German character. Much was touched upon in the minister’s sweeping statement, from the structures to the content. But in the following it remained far more non-binding.
Nikita Dhawan, Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at the TU Dresden, and Adam Szymczyk, freelance curator and author and artistic director of Documenta 14
Source: dpa
Hortensia Völckers from the Federal Cultural Foundation held back noticeably. The federal government withdrew from the supervisory board in 2018 – after the Documenta ended with a financial disaster by Szymczyk – and an announced reform has not materialized to this day. Another construction site, which was not further deepened.
It is also not possible to check all funded art projects, Völckers continued, the fight against anti-Semitism is not just a bureaucratic challenge. While that’s true, it was of little use as a commentary on the widespread failures of the past few weeks. The will to come to terms with the public, although it was proclaimed, was not put into practice.
Hortensia Völckers, artistic director and board member of the Federal Cultural Foundation
Source: dpa
Anti-Semitism in art, is there something? Dhawan and Szymczyk used abstract concepts such as intersectionality and multidirectionality, but otherwise kept a low profile. When Kiesel ventured the thesis that postcolonial theory was conspicuous in repeatedly condemning Israel as an imperial colonial project, despite undeniable findings, those addressed warned against generalizing and demonizing postcolonialism – but they gave no answer. It was a constant dodge. Noticeably attacked, they stuck to their practiced defense reflexes. Kiesel was discouraged when he stated that dialogue seemed impossible.
Hortensia Völckers (left) and Meron Mendel, Director of the Anne Frank Educational Center
Source: dpa
Mendel’s comment that the art world not only sympathizes with “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS), but that a “silent boycott” is already being practiced in many cases in order to avoid possible criticism, also petered out. On that evening, nobody asked himself how we could counter this development together. The man from Frankfurt pointed the way, but no one followed him.
The alliance against anti-Semitism in Kassel, which criticizes BDS as anti-Semitic on leaflets and shows connections to the Documenta, demonstrated with a banner and Israeli flags in front of the event location. Another example of the parallel worlds of the debate. The much-vaunted beginning of the great debate was disappointing. That may be because the need for damage control and balance was clearly felt.
However, the question that Kiesel had raised remained unanswered: What does it mean for a society’s self-image if anti-Semitism expresses itself in a form that is obviously considered honorable among circles that consider themselves enlightened, as long as the “cultural context” is right ?