art world
Scholz will not travel to the documenta – investigation announced
The day after the controversial large banner was taken down, there was only empty scaffolding on Friedrichsplatz. Photo: Uwe Zucchi/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Clarification is required in the anti-Semitism debate surrounding the art show in Kassel. But for the time being there are still many unanswered questions. How did the scandal come about – and what’s next?
After the cancellation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the pressure on the head of the world art show documenta is also growing from other quarters. In the anti-Semitism scandal, calls for the resignation of general director Sabine Schormann are loud.
The German-Israeli Society, for example, made a corresponding statement. Schormann has meanwhile announced that the Kassel exhibition will be examined for “further critical works”. Chancellor Scholz described the subject of the scandal, Taring Padi’s artwork, as “disgusting” through a spokeswoman. He will not visit documenta fifteen.
When examining other works, “Ruangrupa will also have to do justice to its curatorial task,” said Schormann in an interview with the “Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine” (HNA, Thursday). The Indonesian collective Ruangrupa curates documenta fifteen. The group is now supported by recognized experts such as Meron Mendel from the Anne Frank educational center in Frankfurt.
announced series of talks
“It is not the task of the management to inspect and approve all works in advance,” said Schormann. “That would contradict the purpose of the documenta.” It is therefore also not possible to submit the art to an expert committee for approval in advance, for example. This is a core task of the artistic direction.
In the interview, Schormann announced a series of talks on the subject. There should also be a “meeting point” at Friedrichsplatz in Kassel – with the Anne Frank educational center and other civil society actors. The work was set up on Friedrichsplatz before it was wrapped up and finally dismantled on Tuesday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke through his government spokeswoman on Wednesday evening. «Olaf Scholz is a big fan of the documenta and has probably never missed a documenta in the past 30 years. But he decided not to attend this year’s edition,” said the spokeswoman.
Taring Padi’s work includes a pig-faced soldier. He wears a scarf with a Star of David and a helmet with the inscription “Mossad” – the name of the Israeli foreign intelligence service.
“Chancellor Olaf Scholz finds the said image in Kassel disgusting and considers it completely correct and appropriate to remove this poster,” said the spokeswoman. “In Germany there is no place for anti-Semitic depictions, not even at an art exhibition.”
Cancellation Demands
The chairman of the documenta forum, Jörg Sperling, saw things differently. “A free world has to endure that,” he said. The work is a caricature and, in his opinion, is covered by artistic freedom. “Art raised a topic that lies outside of art: the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis. Art cannot solve this problem, and documenta cannot solve it either.”
But the debate has long since boiled over to such an extent that Schormann is also faced with demands for his resignation. “The general director of the documenta, Sabine Schormann, must resign immediately or be dismissed by the supervisory board,” said the president of the German-Israeli Society (DIF), former Greens member of the Bundestag Volker Beck, the “Kölner Stadt-anzeiger” (Thursday). The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, had previously spoken out in favor of personnel consequences.