By: Jerry Wang

Antisemitic images were shown in art this year at Documenta, a famous art exhibit which is held in Germany every five years. Their board is currently trying to plum the way this art slipped through.

Documenta stands as one of the most important events in art, with few other events even similar in importance. It is a very large contemporary art exhibit with over 1,000 artists with diverse styles and works.

Currently, citizens are outraged by the events of Documenta before they even opened. Documenta was slandered for their artists who were allegedly part of a movement against Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

In response to the backlash, the German government stated they needed a “fundamental structural reform” before they would support future funding.

In the midst of all this controversy, artists seem to have been put in a precarious position. One of the most established artists at the exhibit, Hito Steyerl, had abandoned the event, retracting her art. She said the reason for this was she had “no confidence” in the event.

However, even before her decision, in an interview she said that art had lost the time of day. Going on to say that “[t]he art is not even secondary — no one [talked] about it right now.” She then blamed Documenta’s management for the issue; arguing that “by not addressing the accusations of antisemitism — both warranted and unwarranted — in a decisive and transparent manner, Documenta has let this debate eclipse everything else.”

Potentially worst of all, Documenta’s foundation has begun to weaken. Meron Mendel, leader of Anne Frank Education Center, stated Documenta’s team was diminishing their progress. They didn’t expedite communication between artists and Mendel. They didn’t even “sen[d] half an artwork” for him to see.

In the end, Documenta’s board has resolved to find the impetus of the antisemitic art and prevent it from recurring. Whether their response was correct or not, they have begun moving in the right direction and only time knows the results.

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