Documenta contemporary art fair bogged down in controversy over anti-Semitic works

A work described as anti-Semitic exhibited at the Documenta contemporary art fair, which opened recently in Kassel (center), will be covered up after requests for withdrawal from the Israeli embassy and representatives of the Jews of Israel. Germany, the organizers announced on Monday.

This is a new blow for this unmissable meeting of contemporary creation, which takes place every five years, and has faced accusations of anti-Semitism in recent months.

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under high tension

In the edition which opened on Saturday, a work by the Indonesian collective Taring Padi shows a soldier with a pig's head, a Star of David and the inscription "Mossad" on his helmet.

We also see a man with long teeth, curly hair, a hat with the inscription of the Nazi SS and a cigar at the corner of the mouth, reminiscent of the anti-Semitic caricatures of Orthodox Jews.

The work, created

, will now be hidden and an

will be installed nearby, according to a press release from the organizers of Documenta.

Several voices had called on Monday for the removal of the painting which

, according to the director of the Anne Frank Center and professor at the University of Frankfurt, Meron Mendel, on Twitter.

broadcast

and

," the Israeli Embassy in Berlin said in a statement, saying

.

,” denounced Josef Schuster, president of the Council of Jews in Germany.

“No link with anti-Semitism”

Claudia Roth, the Federal Minister Delegate for Culture, also judged that the fight against anti-Semitism and racism

.

defended Taring Padi.

The

are

used in this mural created in 2002 to

, according to the collective.

There is

, argue the artists, saying they are

.

the statement added.

The debate comes as the art fair has already opened into controversy: the Palestinian collective The Question of Funding, very critical of the Israeli occupation, has been accused of being linked to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement ( BDS).

He advocates a boycott of Israel because of its occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

BDS was labeled as

by the German parliament in 2019 and banned from receiving public money.

However, about half of Documenta's budget - 42 million euros - comes from the federal state.

Last month, vandals broke into the space where works by Palestinian artists are displayed, covering the walls with threatening graffiti.

La Documenta is a major meeting place for contemporary art, along with the Venice Biennale.

For one hundred days, the works of more than 1,500 artists are expected to attract at least one million visitors.