The Jewish community is angry again: a new anti-Semitic work in the Documenta exhibition
The performance in question by Algerian women's organizations includes a booklet by the Syrian artist Burhan Karkotli from 1988, in which Israeli soldiers are presented as robots attacking children.
The German Minister of Culture stated that although she recognized anti-Semitic elements in the work, she does not intend to take it down
Tali Goldstein
31/07/2022
Sunday, July 31, 2022, 5:02 p.m. Updated: 5:07 p.m.
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The art exhibition Documenta, which is currently on display in Germany and caused a great public uproar last month due to an anti-Semitic work it put up, is again causing a public uproar due to a new work.
The performance in question by Algerian women's organizations includes a booklet by the Syrian artist Burhan Karkotli from 1988 in which Israeli soldiers are presented as robots attacking children.
In the Jewish community in Germany great anger arose over the work of art.
However, the German Minister of Culture, Claudia Roth, stated that although she recognized anti-Semitic elements in the work, she does not intend to act to take it down.
The work that caused a stir (photo: official website, official website)
Rabbi Avichai Apel, the chief rabbi of Frankfurt, who also serves as the chairman of the German Rabbinical Organization, and vice president of the Conference of European Rabbis, responded to the words of the German Minister of Culture and said: "Those who are not interested in exercising supervision against anti-Semitic art are ignoring the consequences it may create.
It is about letting anti-Semitism go unbridled under the pretext of culture and freedom of expression.
Freedom of expression and art is a very important value, but even this value has limits when it is used to harm religions, peoples and minorities."
The mural that caused the storm at the beginning of the exhibition (photo: screenshot, official website)
About two weeks ago, Sabina Schurmann, the executive director of Documenta - one of the largest and most important art exhibitions in the world - was forced to resign, after strong criticism regarding an anti-Semitic mural that was shown at the opening in Germany the previous month.
The work, presented by an Indonesian art group called Taring Padi, was criticized for images which she used that were defined as anti-Semitic by Jewish organizations, the Israeli embassy in Germany and the German government. The mural "People's Justice" included a soldier with the face of a pig, wearing a handkerchief with a shield of David and a helmet that says "Mossad". In the same work, another person was painted with cheek wigs, fangs Prominent and with red eyes, wearing a black cap with the inscription SS on it. Following public outrage, the painting was initially covered up and then completely removed.
Documenta, founded in 1955, is held every five years in the German city of Kassel. It features 1,500 artists and is curated by an Indonesian art collective called Ruangrupa .
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