Meron Mendel, head of the Anne Frank educational institution, has given up his commitment to documenta 15 in Kassel as an external expert. He misses the will to clarify what happened in the anti-Semitism scandal.
Meron Mendel, head of the Anne Frank educational institution, is no longer an advisor to documenta 15. The general director of the documenta, Sabine Schormann, has neither created suitable framework conditions nor set an appropriate pace, the educational institution announced on Friday. One is faced with a “shambles in the discourse on anti-Semitism and racism”.
Mendel told Der Spiegel: “There is a lot of good at the documenta, but when dealing with the current anti-Semitism scandal I miss the serious will to work through the events and to enter into an honest dialogue”. That’s why he informed the documenta management at the beginning of the week that he was no longer available as a consultant for dealing with the anti-Semitism scandal.
Six months before the exhibition for contemporary art began, allegations of anti-Semitism against the Indonesian curatorial collective Ruangrupa had been raised. Shortly after the show opened in mid-June, a work with anti-Semitic imagery was discovered.
Nothing happened for two weeks
Indonesian art collective Taring Padi’s “People’s Justice” banner was then first covered and then reduced. As a consequence, the organizers of the documenta had announced that they would check all other works for anti-Semitic content with the help of external experts, including Mendel. Mendel now explained that he thought it should be about examining the works of art and entering into a dialogue with Ruangrupa. “But after more than two weeks, neither one nor the other happened.”
The idea of establishing a top-class advisory board made up of anti-Semitism experts was also rejected. “I get the impression that we should play here for a while until documenta fifteen is over.” The general director of the documenta, Sabine Schormann, accuses Mendel of inactivity. “When she asked me, I got the impression that she understood the gravity of the crisis. She said that she was taking responsibility for dealing with the anti-Semitism scandal with the necessary haste and with the necessary determination. But this announcement was not followed by any action.” , Mendel explained.
Used again and again for the show
Nevertheless, the Anne Frank Bildungsstätte appealed not to brand the entire show as anti-Semitic: “Condemning the more than 1,500 artists from all over the world as ‘anti-Semitic’ artists is defamatory and not very helpful for talking to them remain open to critical debate,” the press release said. On Thursday evening, a Union member of parliament used the word “anti-Semitic” in a Bundestag debate.
The head of the Anne Frank educational institution had always campaigned for the show since the allegations of anti-Semitism against the documenta became known. Among other things, he took part in a podium discussion on the subject of “Anti-Semitism in Art”. According to the documenta, the event should be the start of a series to deal with the allegations.
“If I hadn’t tried myself, no representative from Ruangrupa would have been present at the discussion event that the Anne Frank educational center helped organize,” Mendel said now. The documenta management only took action when he wrote about his departure. Nevertheless, Mendel wants to remain in dialogue, which is urgently needed. So far, however, he has seen no willingness to do so either at the documenta – or among the artistic directors.
End of further information