We are angry, we are sad, we are tired, we are united

Ruangrupa, an artist collective from Jakarta, Indonesia, has been appointed as the artistic director in February 2019. The decision marks the second time only that a non-European artist-curator has been selected for this position after Okwui Enwezor in 2002. As the artistic director, ruangrupa expressed their vision to create a globally oriented, collaborative and interdisciplinary art and culture platform that will remain effective beyond the 100 days of documenta fifteen. Rather than proposing an unifying concept as a starting point, ruangrupa offers a working model for collaborations and resource sharing called lumbung. Lumbung is a word in Bahasa Indonesia which refers to a traditional rice-barn where the harvests are being gathered, stored then shared to support the community’s well-being.

This proposal for other ways of working has been received with high anticipations but also criticisms through the media, especially the German-based media. Some criticisms escalate into attacks towards ruangrupa, the staff of documenta, and the selected artists which include lumbung members and lumbung artists. In January 2022, a blog accused of documenta fifteen as anti-semititic for promoting a hatred to Israel. In response to this accusation, ruangrupa and documenta fifteen made a public statement.

Two days after the opening of documenta fifteen, an artwork which entitled People’s Justice by Taring Padi was under fire over the use of figures which according to German politicians and media were antisemitic. The work was dismantled without any discussion with artistic director, artistic team and the artists. Another archival material presented by Archive de luttes des femmes en Algerie was removed few days ago due to accusation of showing antisemitism imageries, this time by an external scientific committee which appointed by documenta. The lumbung community, which include the artistic team, staffs, and the artists of documenta fifteen, is concern with the continuous investigation under the allegation of antisemitism towards the artist and the artworks in documenta. A letter to refuse the investigation as a form of censorship and to demand institutional change towards documenta has been circulated in public since May.

A press release published on September 10th by the Scientific Advisory Panel of documenta pushes a racist drift in a structure of censorship. The Panel has called for the cancellation of a screening of films by Subversive Film, titled “Tokyo Reels,” which features unreleased films on Japanese and Palestinian relations made between 1960 and 1980 that explores “the imperfect archives of transnational militant cinema.” In addition to a myriad of problematic accusations, the report argues that “[…] the serious problems of documenta fifteen consist not only in the presentation of isolated works with anti-Semitic imagery and statements, but also in a curatorial and organisational structural environment that has allowed an anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli mood to prevail.”

Full letter in the link in bio

Hyperlink:
We Refuse We Are Angry
Antisemitism accusations against documenta
Censorship must be refused