This Was Our Error': Documenta Curators Have Apologized for Including a Mural With Antisemitic Image
The members of Ruangrupa, the artistic team behind Documenta 15, have issued a formal apology over the inclusion of a controversial artwork with antisemitic imagery. The statement was followed by a separate comment by Sabine Schormann, head of Documenta’s parent company, who promised to review the rest of the exhibition for any further imagery.
The pair of statements come in the wake of the removal of a contentious mural created by Indonesian collective Taring Padi, called People’s Justice (2002). The artwork had been installed late on Friday last week, ahead of the official opening of Documenta on Saturday, June 18 (on view until September 25).
It was covered up by Tuesday morning as soon as viewers narrowed in on two caricatures in the large piece. One appears to show an Orthodox Jewish man wearing a black hat with the Nazi “SS” insignia, the acronym for the Nazi Schutzstaffel. Another depicts a Mossad soldier.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/documenta-curators-apologize-2135844