After the serious allegations, the Indonesian collective spoke up. One regrets that the work “People’s Justice” offended so many people: “Anti-Semitism has no place in our feelings or in our thoughts.”
After the scandal at the Documenta art exhibition, the Taring Padi artist collective responsible for the picture “People’s Justice” has apologized. “We deeply regret the extent to which the imagery of our work People’s Justice has offended so many people,” writes Taring Padi on the Documenta website. “We apologize to all viewers and employees of documenta fifteen, the public in Germany and especially the Jewish community.” The Indonesian collective writes that they have learned from the mistake and now recognize that the visual language has acquired a specific meaning in the historical context of Germany.
The documenta initially featured Taring Padi’s work “People’s Justice,” which included a pig-faced soldier with a Star of David wearing a helmet with the inscription “Mossad,” the name of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency. Because of this anti-Semitic imagery, the banner was first covered and then taken down on Tuesday evening.
The art show is curated by the Ruangrupa group, which published a statement on Thursday evening. “We all failed to discover the anti-Semitic figures in the work,” it says. “It’s our fault. We apologize for the disappointment, shame, frustration, betrayal and shock we have caused to viewers.” Documenta director Sabine Schormann has so far refused to resign despite heavy criticism.
“Intended as a critique of militarism and state violence”
After the Documenta boss and the curators’ collective, the artists themselves have now also spoken out. “People’s Justice” deals with the injustices, the living conditions in a dictatorship and the complex balance of power in Indonesia, explains the artist collective Taring Padi. Her work stages “these inner and outer power relations in a pictorial scene and attempts to capture the complex historical circumstances through an imagery that is as disturbing as the reality of the violence itself,” the statement says.
“However, the imagery we used was never created out of hatred of a specific ethnic or religious group, but was intended as a criticism of militarism and state violence,” it continues. “We regret that we so completely inappropriately portrayed a possible involvement of the government of the State of Israel – and we sincerely apologize for it. Anti-Semitism has no place in our feelings or in our thoughts.” As a collective of artists “who condemn racism of any kind, we are shocked and saddened by the media coverage that describes us as anti-Semitic.” One has respect for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, race, religion, gender or sexuality.