Documenta Embroiled in More Antisemitism Claims

After the scandals surrounding Documenta 15, the art show is once again under fire. One member of the selection committee has resigned over accusations of antisemitism.After the scandal-hit 2022 edition of the Documenta art exhibition, claims of antisemitism have again emerged as preparations begin for the next installment of the five-yearly event.

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Following months of debate about depictions of antisemitic cliches in the works of Ruangrupa, the Indonesian curators of last year's Documenta, the issue now concerns support for the BDS movement.

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The Palestinian-led campaign promotes boycotts and economic sanctions against Israel "to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law." BDS was designated antisemitic by the German parliament in 2019.

After Indian curator, art critic and poet Ranjit Hoskote was appointed to the six-member selection committee to choose the artistic director of Documenta 16 — to be held in 2027 — it has emerged that he signed a 2019 statement by the BDS campaign. The letter described Israel as an apartheid state. (BDS is modelled on the boycott movement that campaigned against apartheid in South Africa.)

German Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth denounced the BDS letter signed by Hoskote as "clearly anti-Semitic," a claim based in part on its depiction of Israel as a "settler-colonial apartheid state."

Art critic claims right to express 'sympathy' with Palestinians

Hoskote has since resigned from this committee but has refused to distance himself from the statement he signed — as demanded by Documenta managing director, Andreas Hoffmann.

In a resignation letter, Hoskote wrote that he had "publicly spoken out against the intellectual and cultural boycott of Israel." He also expressed his "wish to restate" his "highest regard for the Jewish people," and his "deepest empathy with their historic sufferings and admiration for their glorious cultural achievements."

But he also claimed that criticism of Israel is not antisemitic.

"I am being asked to accept a sweeping and untenable definition of anti-Semitism that conflates the Jewish people with the Israeli state; and that, correspondingly, misrepresents any expression of sympathy with the Palestinian people as support for Hamas," he continued.

"My conscience does not permit me to accept this sweeping definition and these strictures on human empathy," Hoskote wrote.

Federal government questions Documenta subsidies

Culture minister Claudia Roth, in her criticism of the BDS letter that Hoskote had signed, also questioned the federal government's financial involvement in Documenta.

Subsidies for the international art exhibition in Kassel, central Germany, will only be provided "if there is a joint plan and visible reform steps towards clear responsibilities, a genuine opportunity for the federal government to participate and standards to prevent antisemitism and discrimination," Roth said.

The federal government's contribution to Documenta 15 in 2022 amounted to €3.5 million ($3.8 million), while the two main shareholders — the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse — contributed €21.5 million.

Israeli artist stands down in wake of Hamas attack

If the selection committee is to return to its original size, Documenta will not only have to find a replacement for Hoskote.

On November 10, Israeli artist Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger also resigned from the committee, though her decision was not related to the debate surrounding Ranjit Hoskote.

Following the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, Lichtenberg Ettinger said it was not possible for her to participate in the selection of the next artistic director after a failed request for the process to be slowed down in view of the situation in the Middle East. She had not been able to personally attend a meeting of the committee a few days after the Hamas attack due to canceled flights.

In her resignation letter, the artist described a feeling of being "paralyzed under rockets" when attending a meeting via video.

"During our lunch and coffee breaks, just days after the Hamas massacre that started the tragic war, the details of the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians, women and babies and the abduction of children, babies and civilians were broadcast on my screen," wrote Lichtenberg Ettinger.

Documenta managing director Andreas Hoffmann told German broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk on Tuesday that a four-member committee may continue the selection process.

This article has been adapted from the German.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 15, 2023 10:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).