Documenta in Kassel: the exhibition room was broken open and smeared

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Preparations for the opening of the Documenta Hall

Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa

The organizers of the upcoming Documenta in Kassel have made it public that there has been a case of vandalism in one of their exhibition venues.

According to a press release from Documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, there was a break-in in WH22 on Werner-Hilpert-Strasse in the night from May 27 to May 28, 2022.

According to this, unknown persons gained access to the exhibition areas and smeared graffiti on the ground floor, in the stairwell and on the second floor with the content »187« and »PERALTA« among other things.

"187" probably refers to the code number for murder in the California Penal Code, which is picked up by parts of the youth scene, according to the statement.

»Peralta« can be read as an allusion to the name of Isabelle Peralta, who is believed to be the leader of a right-wing extremist youth organization in Spain.« Documenta says it has filed a criminal complaint and called in the security authorities.

More details about the background are still unknown.

»Politically motivated threat«

Among other things, the collective The Question of Funding is to exhibit at WH22.

Like other participants in the 15th Documenta, the collective was exposed to accusations of anti-Semitism.

In April anti-Muslim stickers with the inscription »Freedom instead of Islam!

No compromises with barbarism!

Consistently fight Islam!” and stickers with the inscription “Solidarity with Israel” were found, according to the organizers.

Therefore, the current events will be taken very seriously.

The art collective ruangrupa, responsible for this year's Documenta, and its artistic team now said about the graffiti: »We regard the acts as a politically motivated threat at the exhibition site of The Question of Funding and Party Office and as an attack on all of us, the lumbung members and lumbung artists *innen.« The curators use the Indonesian word »lumbung« to describe the collective processes and structures that are the focus of this year's exhibition.

Kassel's Lord Mayor Christian Geselle also said: "Having discussions about documenta fifteen is one thing, wanting to intimidate artists with criminal offenses goes far beyond what is acceptable and damages the image of the city of Kassel as a place of artistic freedom and hostess for artists from all over the world.«

Everyone involved should be aware of their responsibility and work together.

"Together with the documenta and the local authorities, we will do everything necessary to ensure the safety of the actors and guests," says Geselle.

The Documenta can be seen in Kassel from June 18th to September 25th.

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