For the first time, the documenta will be directed by a collective and, for the first time, by curators who are not socialized in the West: The artist and activist group Ruangrupa comes from Indonesia and draws heavily on principles of traditional Indonesian culture in their work. Here are some of the most important terms that visitors will encounter in Kassel.
Lumbering: In Indonesia, it refers to local rice barns where farmers store their surplus crops to share with the community. The curatorial collective Ruangrupa has made the term the key metaphor for their exhibition. It describes the undogmatic, pragmatic sharing of budgets, decisions and resources and working together in networks and groups, from which the Documenta emerged. Lumbung values are generosity, humor, transparency and local roots. At the Documenta there is a Lumbung Radio, a Lumbung Printer, a Lumbung Gallery and a Lumbung Cinema.
Majelis: Meeting where important issues for the community are decided. A number of such Majelis or smaller Mini-Majelis with the Lumbung Members and the Lumbung artists took place in preparation for the Documenta.
Ecosistem: An “ecosystem” of groups and people working together, connected or dependent on each other.
Common pot: the “common pot”, the sum total of common resources, knowledge and skills. At the Documenta, the common pot primarily refers to the budget that a group of artists jointly decides how to use.
Harvest: The “harvest” of the sometimes lengthy discussions that working together entails: notes on large-format sheets of paper, notes, memes and so on. These notes, found primarily in the Fridericianum, are among the most obscure parts of the Documenta Fifteen.
Ruru house: opposite the Fridericianum. The Documenta makers describe it as a “living room for Kassel” and want to have an impact on the city from there. However, at least on the press days, it was not clear how it would differ from a normal visitor center with a café, mobile phone charging stations and bookstore.
Fridskul: That’s what Ruangrupa calls the most important location of the Documenta, the Fridericianum. In addition to the exhibition, there is child care, a library, an art store, a workshop and living quarters for the artists.
Sobat Sobat: after the Indonesian word for “friends” or “girlfriend”, the visitor guides.
Nongkrong: Hanging out and hanging out with friends without the pressure to produce results. A practice that Ruangrupa also recommends to visitors.
Rurukids: the children’s area of the Documenta in the Fridericianum. Not to be confused with the crèche next door for babies and toddlers up to the age of three, which is run by the artist Graziela Kunsch.