Kassel Documenta
©documenta archiv / Photo: Günther Becker

Kassel Documenta

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Kassel Documenta is an international contemporary art event held every five years in the Kassel region located in the center of Germany. The first edition was held in 1955 at the suggestion of Arnold Bode, an artist and professor at Kassel Academy, as an event accompanying the German national garden show (Bundesgartenschau), which was held throughout Germany. In its early years, Kassel Documenta tried to promote Germany as a cultural nation by focusing on works by German artists and revisit avant-garde art that Hitler had suppressed in an effort to bring peace and stability to the country after World War II. Afterwards, artists from all around the world were allowed to participate, a judging panel of experts was formed, and a new art director was appointed each time to hold a thematic exhibition. Unlike open call biennales led by the state, Kassel Documenta is hosted by a non-profit organization and its organizing committee discovers and selects artists and works. Each edition of Kassel Documenta is characterized by the discussion of new discourses on contemporary art and the pursuit of ethnic and national diversity. Artworks are installed throughout the Kassel region with the Fridericianum and Documenta Halle as the main exhibition halls. In 1977, Paik Nam June broadcasted the Live Satellite Telecast in real time at the opening of Documenta 6, and Yook Keunbyung installed The Sound of Landscape + Eye for Field in the Fridericianum at Documenta 9 in 1992. The Kassel Documenta is a leading international art event that highlights undiscovered sites of contemporary art and presents a vision of the future.
* Source: MMCA

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