Let it be. This was more or less art historian Harald Kimpel’s response when asked in a recent interview for the newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau to comment on the changes suggested to the Documenta organization by Metrum, a management consulting agency specialised on cultural institutions. But the expert on the history of the quintennial didn’t only imply the changes are “cosmetic,” he also noted: “The main dilemma is that artistic content has long since been abandoned, that a de-artisation has taken place.” Consequently, he suggested abandoning Documenta once and for all, after having a “brilliant conclusion after seven decades, and to save it from the fate of being reanimated as a cultural zombie every five years.”
For better or worse, Mr Kimpel, has no say in this matter. But his point of view is shared especially by the generations of art lovers who through their exposure to the different Documenta editions grew up to embrace Abstract Expressionism, Joseph Beuys, Harald Szeemann, and so forth, and who are now struggling to grasp – and have grown increasingly sceptical of – art discourses which relate to global subjects, such as those on post-colonial issues.
Who has a say, however, is the supervisory board, composed of political representatives of the City of Kassel, the Federal State of Hesse, and, following the latest changes, the German Ministry of Culture. Thus the details of the recommendations by Metrum, which was called in after the end of the last Documenta to suggest changes, were discussed widely across the involved political bodies. The specifics of the changes to be implemented can be found in lengthy documents published by the Documenta press office in spring of this year.
It’s a lot of text, suggesting maximum transparency concerning rather a unspectacular administrative shuffle, as if to obfuscate some scandalous manoeuvre. But there are no shady dealings to be found, even after a close read. Thinking about the implications of the proposed changes, however, reveals how precarious the situation for the upcoming edition of Documenta appears to be.
A number of minor administrative changes are to be implemented in order to clarify responsibilities between management and artistic directors. These will include a new management board with representatives of the supervisory board as well as the artistic directors. No changes will affect the so-called finding committee, external experts called in to select the artistic directors for the upcoming show.
One innovation will be the introduction of a six-member “Scientific Advisory Board” to advise Documenta’s supervisory board (however without any voting rights). The supervisory board itself will grow to include not only representatives of the City of Kassel and the Federal State of Hesse, but also representatives of the German Ministry of State for Culture and the Media. In Germany, cultural politics are the responsibility of the individual states, here the state of Hesse, so this inclusion reflects the national contribution of EUR 3.5 million, a little less than 10 per cent of the total Documenta budget.
Finally, causing the most controversy, is the implementation of a Code of Conduct for the organising bodies, the Documenta and Museum Fridericianum GmbH, but not for the artistic directors. According to the report released by the Documenta press office: “Instead, Documenta GmbH, in consultation with the Artistic Direction, will hold a public event within three months of the selection of the Artistic Direction, where the Artistic Direction will present their curatorial concept, shed light on their position on current developments in the field of contemporary art, and explain how they intend to ensure respect for human dignity while safeguarding the artistic freedom.”
This drew immediate media response, particularly in the conservative press. Several critics expressed a great deal of scepticism regarding the latest reforms, arguing that a code of conduct which does not apply to the artistic directors misses the point completely and factually amounts to little more than a prophylactic barrier of administrative measures to protect the organisers, and the administrative director specifically, from any controversies caused by the artistic directors.
A public statement by the artistic directors, this line of argument continues, would be presented well before any artworks are installed. In this sense, the statement could hardly be regarded as more than lip-service – or, rather, a trick – making it possible to pretend to have effective tools to prevent discrimination and anti-Semitism. This can and should be debated. But the arguments became grotesque when, during the public hearing on the recent Documenta developments in the Kassel state parliament, the representative of extremist right wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AFD) suggested the “seeds of hatred and exclusion” prevalent on German streets (referring to pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza) were sown by people “hiding under the cloak of art studies and the freedom to demonstrate.”
However ridiculously absurd, this statement reflects a growing wave of German angst among conservatives and right-wing politicians concerning the spectre of a rampant and international post-colonialist art elite that can barely contain its uncontrollable urge to spout anti-Semitic vitriol, which must be muzzled. In Kimpel’s words: “For me, demanding a commitment to human dignity is almost an offence against human dignity. It’s not just a statement of helplessness, but part of a prevailing culture of mistrust.”
Although having taken nearly two years to develop, once implemented, the measures described above will finally pave the way to elect a new finding commission, set up the scientific advisory board, and, hopefully by the end of the year, present the new artistic director for Documenta 16. The latter in particular will be met by remarkable challenges, one of which will be to deal with the current wave of mistrust.
Another problem is time: if elected by the end of this year, the artistic directors will have two and a half years – roughly nine hundred days – until the scheduled opening date, 12 June 2027. This is decidedly less time (about a year or more) than any of their recent predecessors were afforded. By most standards, this is enough time to put up a big exhibition, but Documenta has completely different dimensions, not least in terms of size, audience engagement, and budget. Consider Documenta 15, which hosted approximately 1500 artists and 750,000 visitors, and had a budget of EUR 42 million. An exhibition of similar scale will be hard to pull off in the shortened time span, an issue that hasn’t been addressed at all so far.
But there is also substantial background noise to be taken into account. There is an ongoing war in Ukraine, combined with Putin’s ongoing efforts to destabilise Western democracies. Parallel to this is the increased acceptance of right-wing narratives across party lines, as epitomised by the successes of the extremist AFD.
Despite massive nationwide protests earlier this year, after it became public that AFD party officials had been hatching plans to deport millions of German citizens, the party has lost little support and is still polling strong. Against recent reports of some of their public officials’ involvement in espionage, the party is even likely to do well in upcoming elections, in particular for the state parliaments in Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.
A current rise in politically motivated crime also reflects these developments. In May, the Ministry of the Interior presented numbers showing that crime from the right has increased by a staggering 23 per cent from the previous year. In the weeks leading up to the above-mentioned polls, several pollsters were attacked, and, in at least one case, beaten so severely that surgery was required. And these are only the most recent events.
Then there is the struggle of German governmental politics in dealing with a sudden rise in antisemitic hate-crimes as well as with the protests against the war in Gaza and its repercussions within the cultural sphere – especially the many instances of silencing voices that challenge the German government’s ongoing and seemingly unconditional support of Israel’s atrocious war in Gaza. The online list Archive of Silence Achronicles acts of silencing critical opinions, such as the sudden cancellation of Berlin-based Palestinian artist Jumana Manna’s exhibition at the Kunstverein Heidelberg in October 2023. In 2017, Manna was the poster-girl for the inclusivity of the German cultural scene, shortlisted for the prestigious Preis der Freunde der Nationalgalerie, and exhibited at the Hamburger Bahnhof. Six years later, after becoming a signatory of the Strike Germany campaign, her exhibitions in the country were cancelled. In an elucidating article published on Hyperallergic, she wrote: “Liberal cultural institutions routinely cave under the pressure of anti-Palestinian sentiment for a variety of reasons: fear of losing funding, intimidation, conformity, and structural racism.”
In a situation like this, it feels like Germany is under real threat of losing its moral authority to host a credible global event like Documenta. And I haven’t even addressed global warming, the elephant in the room in the country of desperately struggling car manufacturers.
Maybe Mr. Kimpel is right that the next Documenta risks becoming a zombie. But not so much because any original Documenta spirit has been hollowed out, but rather because over the decades the mega-show’s main quality has become its ability to, without too much compromise, bring new artistic discourses to the fore. In other words, it is arguably because of its continuously evolving and ever-changing ‘spirit’ that Documenta finds itself at risk. Now, however, because of the infringements put in place, the narratives of mistrust, and the lack of support from various political stakeholders – along with the reduced time frame – the position of the artistic director has doubtlessly weakened, threatening the exhibition’s most vital element: independence of the curatorial vision.
As much as I love the idea of a final sequel to George A. Romero’s classic zombie movies – Documenta of the Dead, regarding the future art exhibition – it will be more challenging than ever to fill the next Documenta with life. It will be important to remember that, ultimately, it needs to be a Documenta of and for the living.
