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Press Information published by the International Auschwitz Committee

25.09.2022

At the end of documenta fifteen all that remains is a pile of rubble

 
 
documenta fifteen: The banner of the Indonesian art collective bearing unmistakeable anti-Semitic images is dismantled. In the end all that remains is empty scaffolding. Then the artists from Taring Padi remove and destroy the large-format figures and discard them. Image: IMAGO/Hartenfelser

documenta fifteen: The banner of the Indonesian art collective bearing unmistakeable anti-Semitic images is dismantled. In the end all that remains is empty scaffolding. Then the artists from Taring Padi remove and destroy the large-format figures and discard them. Image: IMAGO/Hartenfelser

 

 

 

Speaking at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the end of documenta fifteen as follows:

"The sad reality at the end of documenta fifteen is the stubborn insistence of numerous responsible organizers and their withdrawal behind the barriers of their own arrogance during this art festival. The repeatedly staged criticism of the existence of the state of Israel was a product from the age-old swamp of anti-Semitic prejudices. The creators have utterly failed to realize that people are being hurt, defamed and marginalized here, people who have already had to experience this in their family history to the bitter end. The fact that, despite mounting criticism and discussion options, these anti-Semitic connotations were able to last for 100 days in Germany and at documenta fifteen, will permanently tarnish the reputation of this project. It marks a turning point in Germany and exposes numerous political reactions as nothing but hollow phrases. In Germany, politics and society will now enter a conversation about this turning point and the contentious issues that have emerged from documenta fifteen in order to confront and reassess anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel in the international context.

The documenta art festival has ended with a heap of rubble. But even rubble can be reshaped to create a new world. A world that needs to develop a concept, beyond the narrow confines of the exclusive belief in a collective, beyond naivety and state influences. And above all, this concept must take its own responsibility seriously, it must inspire new hope and enable us all to access new, provocative perspectives of a disconcerting reality of our world, and to counter this reality with creativity, poetry and the spirit of resistance of artists and collectives from around the globe."

 
 
 

For further Information

Christoph Heubner

Executive Vice President
International Auschwitz Committee
Phone ++ 49 (0)30 26 39 26 81