On June 18th, Documenta opens its doors for 100 days again in Kassel, Germany. It was an attempt after World War II to bring Germany up to date with modern art and erase any traces of the Nazis.
Several artists have come from all over the world to create or display art pieces. However, one of these pieces, “People’s Justice” stands out. Created by the Indonesian collective Taring Padi in 2022, the almost 60-foot-long banner shows over a hundred individual figures that depict political resistance in a cartoon-like way.
Two of these figures, specifically the man with side-locks and fangs, wearing a hat emblazoned with a Nazi emblem. The other was a soldier with a pig’s head, wearing a Star of David neckerchief and a helmet with “Mossad,” the name of Israel’s security service, written on it. These figures caused outrage after they were displayed on social media causing Israel’s embassy in Germany to accuse Documenta of promoting “Goebbels-style propaganda” — a reference to the Nazis’ chief propagandist.
Within hours of these comments, the work was covered by sheets of black fabric, but it seems the damage has already been done. The German newspaper “Zeit” reported on Friday that Claudia Roth, the nation’s cultural minister, has released a paper announcing plans to “reform” the governance and funding structure of the exhibition.
Taring Padi announced that he was “saddened that details in this banner are understood differently from its original purpose.” He then added “There is no record in our work that aims to portray any ethnic groups in a negative way,” and it was supposed to be a comment on the “militarism and violence” faced by Indonesians during the rule of Suhaturo.
This Documenta is clearly over for Germany. Jörg Häntzschel and Catrin Lorsch have concluded in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. This Documenta, “has made real dialogue between cultures extremely difficult for the foreseeable future.”
Several artists have come from all over the world to create or display art pieces. However, one of these pieces, “People’s Justice” stands out. Created by the Indonesian collective Taring Padi in 2022, the almost 60-foot-long banner shows over a hundred individual figures that depict political resistance in a cartoon-like way.
Two of these figures, specifically the man with side-locks and fangs, wearing a hat emblazoned with a Nazi emblem. The other was a soldier with a pig’s head, wearing a Star of David neckerchief and a helmet with “Mossad,” the name of Israel’s security service, written on it. These figures caused outrage after they were displayed on social media causing Israel’s embassy in Germany to accuse Documenta of promoting “Goebbels-style propaganda” — a reference to the Nazis’ chief propagandist.
Within hours of these comments, the work was covered by sheets of black fabric, but it seems the damage has already been done. The German newspaper “Zeit” reported on Friday that Claudia Roth, the nation’s cultural minister, has released a paper announcing plans to “reform” the governance and funding structure of the exhibition.
Taring Padi announced that he was “saddened that details in this banner are understood differently from its original purpose.” He then added “There is no record in our work that aims to portray any ethnic groups in a negative way,” and it was supposed to be a comment on the “militarism and violence” faced by Indonesians during the rule of Suhaturo.
This Documenta is clearly over for Germany. Jörg Häntzschel and Catrin Lorsch have concluded in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. This Documenta, “has made real dialogue between cultures extremely difficult for the foreseeable future.”
