documenta fifteen

Since its debut in 1955, the documenta has become one of the world’s most influential and internationally acclaimed exhibitions of contemporary art. Every five years the exhibition presents a multitude of current international artworks for 100 days in a row.

The next edition is scheduled to take place from 18 June to 25 September 2022 in Kassel and will be curated for the first time by an artists’ collective. ruangrupa, a ten-person collective of artists and creative minds from Jakarta, Indonesia was unanimously chosen by the international selection committee of the documenta 15 and approved by its supervisory board. The selection committee explained its reasoning for choosing ruangrupa on account of the collective’s participative approach: “At a time in which innovation is being driven by independent, socially active organisations, it makes sense to offer the documenta as a platform for this collective approach.”

The Indonesian word “ruangrupa” can be loosely translated as a “space for art” or “spatial shape”. Farid Rakun and Ade Darmawan of ruangrupa explain their participative, curatorial approach for the world art exhibition in 2022 as follows: “We want to create a globally oriented, cooperative and interdisciplinary art and cultural platform which will remain effective even after the 100 days of the documenta 15. Our curatorial approach aims to direct attention to an alternative, socially-oriented model of resource usage – economically as well as with respect to ideas, knowledge, programmes and innovations.”