Art exhibition documenta: change of perspective in Kassel

Is this art or political activism? documenta fifteen wants to be both. Artist groups bring perspectives from poorer regions of the world to Kassel. The exhibition opens its doors on Saturday.

A black tunnel, gloomy and full of noise. Whoever enters the documenta hall in Kassel has to go through it. Not a comfortable feeling. And it doesn’t get any better inside either. A gigantic woven bed. Whole families sleep on such beds in the slums. The installations by the artist group Wajukuu throw the audience right into the middle of the poor suburbs of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Wajukuu means “grandson”. And it is precisely this generation of grandchildren that the artist collective looks after at home in Nairobi. They teach children, bring them into contact with art. Another generation should not grow up whose future is predetermined in the slums and in which many see no other way than into gang crime.

Wajukuu wants to bring this reality closer to the audience in Kassel. And also show that there are ways to get out of it. “There’s this image of Africa as a dependent continent. We came here to show that it’s not,” says Shabu Mwangi, one of Wajukuu’s founders.

Perspectives of the “Global South”

The documenta invited 14 such groups of artists to Kassel this year, officially 54 artists. But everyone brought other colleagues with them, so that in the end almost 1500 came. This is in the spirit of ruangrupa, an artist collective from Indonesia that directs documenta fifteen. “Networking and collectivity are at the forefront of this exhibition,” says Reza Afisina from ruangrupa. They call it “Lumbung” after the Indonesian rice stores, which are run collectively and are places for food and communication in equal measure.

Almost all artists come from poorer regions of the world, the so-called Global South, because almost all of them are in the southern hemisphere. This documenta wants to bring a change of perspective into the art world. Away from the perspective of Europeans and North Americans, towards the diverse voices that exist elsewhere in the world.

Activism instead of traditional exhibition?

The documenta takes place every five years – this year for the fifteenth time. And this time it’s more like an activist camp than a traditional art exhibition. The classic picture on the wall has had its day. Large installations can be seen, such as “Return to Sender” by the Kenyan collective “The Nest”: A large pile of pressed old clothes, stacked in front of the baroque palace of the Kassel Orangery. The clothes left over from the fast fashion craze in the rich countries, charitably donated to Africa, are ruining the local textile and fashion industry there. And therefore: back to the sender.

Everywhere in Kassel, ecological problems and repression in South Asia, political persecution in Cuba or the problems of queer people in Africa are being discussed these days. The venues are spread across the city. The organizers of the exhibition were particularly taken with East Kassel. A district whose reconstruction after the Second World War could still be described as “expedient”.

Debate on Antisemitism

However, one exhibition location is being scrutinized particularly critically these days. The WH22 is hidden behind a well-known Kassel club, the “Lolita Bar”. Here the Palestinian group “The Question of Funding” exhibits their works. Above all, she wants to show how difficult it is to get money and resources together in the Palestinian territories. Not only for art, but also for simple things in life, because Israel blocks the Gaza Strip and many everyday goods cannot be imported there. This art is critical of Israel. And that’s always a touchy subject in Germany.

In addition, some members of “The Question of Funding” are said to have a spiritual closeness to the Israel boycott movement BDS. The Bundestag ruled in 2020 that she was anti-Semitic. The participation of artists from this spectrum in the documenta, without Israeli voices being heard, called the Central Council of Jews in Germany into action. Its President Josef Schuster wrote a letter of complaint to Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth.

Roth tries to smooth waves

The documenta makers of “ruangrupa”, on the other hand, see themselves as misunderstood and, for their part, condemned some of their critics as “Islamophobic”. The discussion has been making waves in German feuilletons for weeks. The debate really boiled up when the documenta organizers simply canceled a planned series of talks on the subject of anti-Semitism.

Claudia Roth is now trying to smooth the waves. Of course there shouldn’t be any anti-Semitism at the documenta, she says. However, she defends ruangrupa and, in line with their spirit, promotes openness to other perspectives. “The Global South definitely has a different perspective on us than we have on the Global South. And this confrontation or this argument and this encounter, which I think is exciting,” she says.

At the opening of the documenta, ruangrupa was self-confident. “The next 100 days are crucial for us,” says Reza Afisina. “Come to Kassel, look at the exhibition, discuss with us and the artists.” Many will certainly not like the highly political, activist approach of this documenta. But it will definitely provide an impetus for discussions.