Kate Brown – The Head of documenta Has Resigned amid an Ongoing Anti Semitism Scandal

18 juli 2022AdminBusinessplan, Home, Interview, Locatie, Media, Portretten, Ridderboek0

documenta 15 Announcement (foto e-flux.com)

The Head of documenta Has Resigned amid an Ongoing Anti Semitism Scandal

“A Lot of Trust has Unfortunately been Lost,” the Organization S Board said in it S Statement.

The Museum Fridericianum during documenta 15 (foto by Thomas Lohnes)

Sabine Schormann, Director General of documenta, has Resigned from her Post. The Quinquennial Exhibition S Non Profit Parent Company, documenta gGmbh, announced the Decision on Saturday.

According to the Statement, the documenta Board and Schormann reached A Mutual Agreement on “Short Notice” after A Meeting on Friday Evening. The News comes on the Heels of A Statement Schormann Issued on Tuesday, July 12, that sought to clarify how documenta had handled an Unfolding Controversy that began in January around Allegations of Anti Semitism among Members of the Artistic Team and Some Artists. The Controversy came to A Boiling Point Two Days after the Opening on June 18 when Viewers became Aware of Anti Semitic Imagery in A Prominent Art Work by Indonesian Collective Taring Padi.

“A Lot of Trust has Unfortunately been Lost,” the Board said in the Statement Confirming Schormann S Departure. A Search is Underway for an Interim Director for the Exhibition, which is Just 30 Days into it S 100 Day Run.

The Supervisory Board also recommended appointing an Expert Advisory Board consisting of Scholars of Contemporary Anti Semitism in the German and Global Contexts, as well as on Post Colonialism. The Advisory Board should be “Responsible for the Initial Stocktaking of the Processes, Structures, and Receptions” surrounding the Exhibition. According to the Statement, an Investigation should include Indications of Possible Anti Semitic Imagery and the Promotion of “Israel Related Anti Semitism (…) with due Regard for the Fundamental Right to Artistic Freedom.”

Art Lovers look at the Large Covered Painting People S Justice (2002) by the Indonesian Collective Taring Padi, covered with Black Cloth, on Friedrichsplatz (foto Uwe Zucchi)

Documenta 15, which was Organized around the Indonesian Word Lumbung, which means A Communal Rice Barn, focused on Collective Practices. With More than 1.500 Participating Artists, the Show It self received Generally Positive Reviews, including from Artnet News S Ben Davis, who wrote that “the Particular Network of Networks that Ruangrupa has pulled in Genuinely feels like It knits Together Artistic Scenes that are Vital and Under Known.”

Despite the Achievements, since January, the 15th Edition of Documenta, which takes place Every Five Years in Kassel, has been Embroiled in Controversy over Allegations of Anti Semitism. In January, an Anonymous Blog Post on the Alliance Against Antisemitism Kassel Web Site kicked off Allegations of Anti Semitism, accusing Members of the Artistic Team and Some Participating Artists of supporting the Pro Palestinian Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions Movement. Ruangrupa said the Allegations were “Bad Faith Attempts” to Delegitimize Them.

A Talk set to take place in April that would Address Anti Semitism and Anti Muslim Racism was Canceled after the Central Council for Jews in Germany Accused the Talk S Organizers of Bias.

Meron Mendel, Director of the Anne Frank Education Center, speaks on the topic of “Anti Semitism in Art” at A panel organized by the Anne Frank Education Center and the Supporting Organization documenta GmbH (foto Swen Pförtner)

Then, in June,Just Days after the Official Opening, it emerged that A Caricature of A Jewish Orthodox Man, with Sidelocks and Bloody Fangs, donning A Hat emblazoned with the Nazi SS Symbol, appeared within a Large Artwork from 2002 by Taring Padi in A Piece that criticized the Suharto Regime. Alongside that Character, as well as Others depicting Demons, Animals, and the KGB and Australian Intelligence, there is A Depiction of an Israeli Mossad Soldier as A Pig. The Work was Immediately Covered Up and then Removed. Both Taring Padi and the Curators of Ruangrupa Apologized

The Controversy did Not Quell after the Removal of the Work, called People S Justice. An Emergency Panel was brought together on June 29 to discuss Anti Semitism in Art. Less than Two Weeks Later, Artist Hito Steyerl, who was showing in the Exhibition, Pulled Out of the Show Claiming that there was A “Refusal to Facilitate A Sustained and Structurally Anchored Inclusive Debate around the Exhibition, as well as the Virtual Refusal to accept Mediation.” That same day Meron Mendel, the Head of the Anne Frank Educational Institute in Frankfurt who had been brought on as an Advisor to the Exhibition in the Wake of the Scandal in June around Taring Padi S Work, also Quit.

Schormann had just A Week Ago Rebuked Statements made by Mendel, who told German Media that documenta was Not Active Enough when it came to Redressing in the Wake of the Revelations about People S Justice. She said that the Artists Feared External Panels would lead to Censorship and that Participants “Saw Them Selves under General Suspicion” and Threatened in Part because of their Origin, Skin Color, Religion or Sexual Orientation

Kate Brown, Europe Editor

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Artnet News, July 18, 2022

https://news.artnet.com/news-pro/the-hammer-simon-de-pury-art-market-future-2147555

16 JUL // PARIS LETTAU’s review might be the best thing you’ve read on DOCUMENTA FIFTEEN:

“This documenta will be judged on its idea, which with the smallest prick created a huge controversy revealing the bad conscience of Germany.”https://t.co/BOOQ4dHUZ9 pic.twitter.com/q1tYPL2xXg

— Memo Review (@memoreview) July 16, 2022

documenta 15 Announcement (foto e-flux.com)

The Head of documenta Has Resigned amid an Ongoing Anti Semitism Scandal

The Museum Fridericianum during documenta 15 (foto by Thomas Lohnes)

Art Lovers look at the Large Covered Painting People S Justice (2002) by the Indonesian Collective Taring Padi, covered with Black Cloth, on Friedrichsplatz (foto Uwe Zucchi)

Meron Mendel, Director of the Anne Frank Education Center, speaks on the topic of “Anti Semitism in Art” at A panel organized by the Anne Frank Education Center and the Supporting Organization documenta GmbH (foto Swen Pförtner)

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