scandal
documenta: Minister emphasizes responsibility for enlightenment
Dark clouds over the Museum Fridericianum at the documenta in Kassel. Photo: Swen Pförtner/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
After the opening of the exhibition for contemporary art, a work with anti-Semitic imagery caused a scandal. The banner was taken down, but the matter is not over.
Hesse’s Minister of Art, Angela Dorn, has reiterated her demand for an “honest analysis” of the anti-Semitism scandal at the documenta in the Hessian state parliament’s culture committee.
“I felt that trying to do an honest analysis on the spot didn’t just make you popular,” said the Greens politician, according to a statement on Thursday in Kassel. “However, I am firmly convinced that we have a responsibility to do so, also and especially in the interest of the documenta itself.”
After the opening of the exhibition for contemporary art, a work with anti-Semitic imagery was discovered. The banner “People’s Justice” by the Indonesian art collective Taring Padi was then taken down.
Demand for reform of the show
“As deputy chair of the supervisory board of documenta gGmbH, I am trying to get the shareholders to agree that we need clarification and consequences in order to strengthen documenta as an outstanding, globally important cultural brand,” explained Dorn on Thursday. The documenta shareholders are the city of Kassel and the state of Hesse, which currently have different positions on the consequences of the scandal.
Dorn supports the demand of Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) for a reform of the show. The federal government wants to stop funding via its cultural foundation without structural influence. The chairman of the supervisory board of the documenta gGmbh, Kassel’s mayor Christian Geselle, vehemently rejects Roth’s plans. The SPD politician recently announced that he would forego financial support from Berlin if necessary.
Dorn had already called for clarification and consequences in the Bundestag’s culture committee in Berlin on Wednesday and announced a special meeting of the documenta supervisory board at the request of the state.