Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - A research project is to examine the anti-Semitism debate surrounding documenta fifteen in Kassel. "In the last few months we have seen how deadlocked the debate is. With the study we want to analyze the reasons for this polarization, what basic conflicts are revealed in it and how organizers of international art and culture festivals can react to such conflicts in the future." , said Meron Mendel, director of the Anne Frank educational institution, according to a statement on Monday in Frankfurt.
The educational institution, the documenta Institute and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences are involved in the project entitled "Anti-Semitism and Postcolonial Debates Using the Example of Documenta Fifteen". The study, led by Mendel and the sociologist and founding director of the documenta Institute, Heinz Bude, is scheduled to run until the end of 2023. The basis is, among other things, the questioning and observation of visitors and participants and the analysis of the public discourse.
The study is financed from the innovation fund of the Hessian Ministry for Science and Art. According to a spokesman, the funding amount, spread over the years 2022 and 2023, is almost 347,000 euros.
Anti-Semitic works were exhibited at the documenta that should not have been shown, said Minister Angela Dorn (Greens) according to the announcement. The research project is about "obtaining important scientific impulses for cultural policy and culture. Because anti-Semitism threatens the foundations of our peaceful coexistence and is diametrically opposed to free and open cultural exchange."
The 15th edition of the documenta art exhibition, which recently ended, was shaken before and during its run by repeated accusations of anti-Semitism. Shortly after the opening in mid-June, a work with anti-Semitic imagery was discovered and dismantled. Even after that, works with anti-Jewish stereotypes were discovered.
