Documenta Director General Schormann defends herself against criticism
Sabine Schormann, General Director of the Documenta
Source: Swen Pförtner/dpa
External consultants are supposed to check other Documenta works for possible anti-Semitic content, but for many that doesn’t go far enough. The general director of the art festival continues to defend herself against criticism – and refers to the freedom of art.
Dhe general director of the documenta, Sabine Schormann, has defended herself against the ongoing criticism of the art exhibition’s handling of allegations of anti-Semitism. The focus was on clarifying and acting in the spirit of “Documenta fifteen”, she explained in a statement distributed on Tuesday evening. But that can only be done together with the artistic direction and the artists.
Schormann explained that the documenta archive, which had set up a network of external consultants, was responsible for coordinating the examination of the exhibition for possible further anti-Semitic content. A viewing has already taken place for other works that have come into focus.
The removed work of art “People’s Justice” by the Indonesian group Taring Padi, in which anti-Semitic depictions could be seen, has meanwhile also been legally evaluated by experts. According to the verdict of the experts, there was no criminal liability, Schormann explained in the evening.
After public protests, the work “People’s Justice” was initially draped with cloths a few days after the start of the exhibition in June because of anti-Semitic motifs and shortly thereafter removed from the art show by decision of the Documenta supervisory board.
Artists and directors have already rejected a review of the allegations in January
The incident triggered massive criticism of the general director, also because the members of the artist collective “Ruangrupa” as Documenta curators had previously been accused of also involving organizations that were anti-Semitic.
Schormann explained on Tuesday, back in January, that when the first allegations were made, the artistic direction and the 1,500 artists by now had rejected an external panel of experts for review because they felt they were under general suspicion and feared censorship. “In this respect, there was already a clear defensive attitude towards interventions in art in January,” she writes in the statement.
Schormann also contradicted statements by Meron Mendel, director of the Frankfurt educational institution Anne Frank, who was intended as a consultant and had resigned from his position a few days ago. His recent assertion that there had been no contact with the Documenta for two weeks was not correct, she explained. The director of the Documenta archive, who was responsible for coordination, was in constant contact with Mendel.
With regard to the structural reform of the Documenta, which has been called for several times, Schormann pointed out that artistic freedom is made possible by a structure that has been in place for decades, which provides for a balanced interaction between shareholders, supervisory board, international selection committee, artistic direction and management with a clear distribution of tasks. This successful but organizationally outdated structure has been modernized since the end of “Documenta 14”.
On Tuesday, joint research by WELT and Markus Hartmann, a member of the German-Israeli Society in Kassel, showed that at least 84 participants in this year’s Documenta signed calls for a boycott of Israel, including members of the artistic direction. The traffic light coalition demanded the resignation of Director General Schormann.
