Halfway through documenta fifteen in Kassel, experts draw mixed conclusions. “We are currently dealing with a double drama, on the one hand with the anti-Semitism misery and on the other hand with the aesthetic misery of a programmatically de-art exhibition,” says the Kassel art historian Harald Kimpel.
In the first half of its 100-day run, more than 410,000 visitors were counted at documenta fifteen. Alongside the Venice Biennale, the documenta is considered the most important exhibition of contemporary art.
However, the show is overshadowed by allegations of anti-Semitism. The first voices had already been raised in January, accusing the Indonesian curator collective Ruangrupa and some invited artists of being close to the anti-Israel boycott movement BDS. Shortly after the opening of the exhibition in June, a banner with anti-Jewish motifs was discovered and taken down. Other works appeared later, triggering sharp criticism.
Source: Nachrichten
