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21.06.2022

The most recent anti-Semitic manifestations at documenta fifteen

 
 
The work titled People's Justice by the Indonesian collective of underground artists Taring Padi at documenta 15 in Kassel caused a wave of outrage. The documenta organizers first decided to drape the work with black cloth, just three days after it was installed. It is now being completely dismounted. Image: hessenschau.de

The work titled People's Justice by the Indonesian collective of underground artists Taring Padi at documenta 15 in Kassel caused a wave of outrage. The documenta organizers first decided to drape the work with black cloth, just three days after it was installed. It is now being completely dismounted. Image: hessenschau.de

 

 

 

During a stay at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the latest developments in the anti-Semitism debate surrounding documenta 15:

"Survivors of the Holocaust are following the deplorable developments surrounding documenta 15 with disbelief and resignation. The humiliating depiction of Jewish people on exhibition objects has numerous longstanding, deep-seated anti-Semitic clichés. They are very familiar to the Holocaust survivors, and they remind them of the dark and lethal times when they experienced exclusion and persecution promoted by similarly distressing images. It is now clear that the inability to engage in constructive dialogue between political and artistic participants during the preparations for the documenta exhibition has meanwhile led to a confused and undignified situation. This in turn will generate nothing less than renewed anti-Semitic prejudices and anti-Israeli clichés in the minds of many people: The Jews as never-ending troublemakers and killjoys at documenta 15.

It’s high time to start a discussion in the framework of this documenta and to hear the artists telling about the worldview and context in which these images emerged. Similarly, the documenta organizers should provide a public explanation of why these images are meeting with opposition and rejection."