Performance art played a central role during documenta 8 in 1987. The section curated by Elisabeth Jappe, documenta live. Performance – Action – Ritual, provided new impulses. Among the participants was the performance collective Black Market International (BMI), founded in 1985.
 

In the temporarily converted parking garage of Kassel's Renthof, the then eight-member group led by founding members Boris Nieslony, Jürgen Fritz, and Norbert Klassen realized the 24-hour improvisation Das Brakteatenstück (The Bracteate Piece) – an intense performative examination of barter, valuation, commodity circulation, and the principle of the gift.
 

For this year's Museum Night, Black Market International – now a globally active artists' association – returns to Kassel and celebrates its 40th anniversary at a location that has had a decisive influence on the group's development.

Typical of their working method, the performance is created live, unplanned, and spontaneously – without a script, score, or prior arrangements. In keeping with the spirit of intercultural exchange and the guiding principle of an “open system of encounter” (Boris Nieslony), the participating actors develop a site-specific action: in dialogue with the architecture, the atmosphere of the space, and in direct resonance with the audience, which is actively involved in the event. Selected materials from the Black Kit performance archive (Schwarze Lade) and other props are activated in the process and serve as catalysts for joint action in the moment.
 

For four decades, Black Market International has seen itself as a flexible network of artists from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines – from visual arts to theater and dance to music. The group's artistic practice is reflected in the Black Kit performance archive, which found its new home in the documenta archive in 2024. Founded in 1981 in the context of the action art scene around Boris Nieslony, it initially served as a collectively used working tool and has since developed into one of the most important archives for happenings, action art, and performance art.

The full-length performance will be accompanied by a film program and a documentary presentation of material on the history of the collective in the documenta Halle.

Participating artists: Julie Andrée T – JAT (CAN), Jürgen Fritz (D), Sandra Johnston (GB), Myriam Laplante (CAN/IT), Ryszard Ługowski (PL), Alastair MacLennan (GB), Boris Nieslony (D), Zygmunt Piotrowski (PL), Nigel Rolfe (IRL), Tomáš Ruller (CZE), Elvira Santamaria Torres (MEX), Jacques Van Poppel (NL), and Roi Vaara (FIN).

The performance is structured in an open format – visitors can come and go at any time. Drinks are available on site.