On Monday, as Israel ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza, Documenta released yet another statement about Ruangrupa, the Indonesian collective that organized last year’s edition, claiming that two of its members had liked, then unliked, social media posts in support of Palestine.
The statement was the latest in a long-running controversy over allegations of antisemitism that plagued the German art exhibition last year. Many in Germany and far beyond pored over the exhibition’s wide-ranging offerings, criticizing the show for including Palestinian artists at the alleged exclusion of Israelis and for containing representations of Jews that some politicians decried as antisemitic caricatures. Ruangrupa denied that there had been a boycott of Israeli artists and apologized after a Taring Padi piece was removed shortly after the show opened.
Earlier this year, a committee nominated to evaluate the show released a report saying that Documenta 15 was an “echo chamber” of anti-Israel sentiment.
The specter of that controversy continues to haunt the show, whose next edition, in 2027, has the potential to be dramatically reshaped by the 2022 one. But the statement about Ruangrupa that was released by Documenta on Monday was unusual, as the Indonesian collective is not involved with organizing the forthcoming show. It has also been more than a year since their edition ended.
Moreover, it is exceedingly rare for biennials to speak out against their curators, past or present.
The statement, written by managing director Andreas Hoffmann, came amid the latest iteration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Saturday, Hamas militants fired rockets at Israeli towns, then infiltrated some of them, ultimately taking around 150 hostages, according to the group. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, subsequently said the country was “at war,” and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Gaza.
More than 700 Israelis and at least 560 Palestinians have been killed, according to their governments.
Hoffmann claimed in his statement that two Ruangrupa members had interacted with posts about protests in support of Palestine in Berlin, saying that liking the videos these posts contained was “intolerable and unacceptable.” These actions have previously been controversial in Germany, where a court even upheld a police ban on an event in Berlin meant to mark the Palestinian Nakba earlier this year, claiming that the demonstration would foment antisemitism.
In his statement, Hoffmann said that Documenta “distances itself” from those protests. And regarding the alleged likes, he claimed that the two Ruangrupa members had taken measures to “acknowledge them as mistakes.” But he did not name specific posts or identify which Ruangrupa members had allegedly interacted with them. He also did not state which social media had been used.
Ruangrupa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The terrorist events and the reactions to them occur at a time when documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH is actively trying to regain the trust of Jews and the general public in view of the anti-Semitic misdeeds of last summer,” Hoffmann wrote. “Last but not least, today, 9 October, which marks the anniversary of the tragic attack in Halle, is a reminder to actively and emphatically oppose all forms of anti-Semitism.”
He continued, “The current circumstances, as well as certain statements by participating artist collectives on the topic of anti-Semitism at documenta fifteen in the October issue of the magazine monopol, show once again that a discussion or understanding about the anti-Semitism scandal at documenta fifteen has not been successful so far.”