the upcoming edition of Documenta, the quinquennial exhibition set for 2017. Artistic Director Adam Szymczyk will divide the event between Kassel and the Greek capital, and has given the dual exhibition the working title “Documenta 14: Learning From Athens.”
While the recent financial relationship between Greece and Germany factored into Szymczyk’s interest in Athens, he said its geographic identity and immigration issues were more curatorially relevant.
meningen over deze move zijn verdeeld:
http://www.dw.com/en/documenta-14-starts-in-athens-with-polarizing-show/a-19554270
Documenta 14 starts in Athens with polarizing show
In 2017, both Kassel and Athens will host the prestigious art Show, documenta 14. A kick-off in Greece has already caused a stir by featuring art in a politically controversial venue and touching on sexual identity.
The next edition of the documenta art exhibition takes place in Kassel as usual – but for the first time in the art show’s history, there will be an additional program in Athens in 2017, too.
Ahead of the major international event next year, this week the “Parliament of Bodies” public program launched at the first documenta 14 art exhibition venue in the Greek capital with a 10-day line-up entitled “34 exercises of freedom.”
The venue alone has sparked controversy. Many Greeks find it quite offensive, since the Athens Municipality Arts Center served as the headquarters of the military police during the dictatorship years from 1967 to 1974.
Architectural art reorganizes the space
For “Parliament of Bodies,” architect Andreas Angelidakis set up 68 massive blocks made of a light-weight plastic material that visitors are free to assemble and re-arrange as they wish, “creating multiple and transient architectures.”
People are “invited to actively construct this political theater every day, interrogating location, hierarchy, visibility, scale,” according to documenta 14.
The organizers invited 45 participants to “exercise freedom” within the building, and enter into a dialogue with the public.
Gay, transsexual issues at the fore
“Progressively during this 10-day dialogue,” documenta 14 has said they plan to introduce “contemporary languages of resistance” from the Kurdish revolution to the queer, transgender, sex-workers, and migrant voices in Turkey, Greece, Mexico, or Brazil, from contemporary indigenous fights for restitution to new political and artistic practices.
The documenta team, which expects the outcome to be a “different political and poetic map of Europe than the one designed by the European Union,” admits that reaction to the concept has been strong.
“Documenta 14 is based on militant ideas, unbearably restrictive and obsessively one-sided,'” Greece’s “Kathimerini” newspaper says.
Previously, some critics compared adding Athens to the program as a move to poverty tourism.
Greece split over documenta in Athens
In an interview in October 2105 with the online “Spike” art magazine, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis voiced his displeasure with the “idea that part of documenta will take place in Athens – it is like crisis tourism.”
Varoufakis called it a “gimmick” to exploit the tragedy in Greece – like “rich Americans taking a tour in a poor African country.”
But Athens Mayor Giorgios Kaminis welcomes the art show as “a gift to the Greek capital” that will turn Athens into a contemporary cultural destination.
Van 8 april tot 16 juli vindt overigens in Athene ook een deel van documenta 14 plaats, en het nieuwe museum zal daarvoor een hoofdlocatie
Europa krijgt er aan de voet van de Akropolis een nieuw, toonaangevend museum voor hedendaagse kunst bij. Hierbij speelt uitgerekend ook M HKA een bijzondere rol. Op 31 oktober opent het EMST, zoals het nieuwe instituut zal heten, de deuren met de tentoonstelling ‘Urgent Conversations: Athens-Antwerp’, een samenwerking tussen het museum en het M HKA. De tentoonstelling beoogt een visuele en theoretische dialoog te brengen tussen ruim 70 werken uit de collecties van beide instituten. In 22 thematische clusters zullen telkens de werken van een Belgische, Griekse en internationale kunstenaar worden samengebracht.M HKA-directeur Bart De Baere: “De uitnodiging van het EMST is zowel een plezier als een eer. Athene is de plaats waar de notie ‘museum’ en meer nog: waar de notie ‘dialoog’ begon. Ook de noties van ‘stad’ en ‘democratie’ vinden hun oorsprong in Athene, als wieg van Europa.” Een deel van ‘Urgent Conversations: Athens-Antwerp’ komt in het voorjaar van 2017 naar het M HKA en wordt een van de openingstentoonstellingen van het vernieuwde museum na de verbouwingen van de gelijkvloerse verdieping. Het EMST wordt volgend voorjaar ook meteen een hoofdlocatie voor documenta 14 die zal plaatsvinden in Athene van 8 april tot 16 juli 2017 en in Kassel van 10 juni tot 17 september 2017.