Polluted water or dirty air, nuclear danger or dying forests, factory farming, climate change or the anthropocene.

In the complex cultural system that we call contemporary art, archives have come to stay. Over

The documenta archive stores thousands of unsolicited applications. While in 1972 a good 250 artists unsolicitedly and unsuccessfully applied to participate at documenta 5, there were already around 900 at documenta 7 and almost 1,500 at documenta 8.

The lecture presents the creation, implementation and documentation of the exhibition "Macho Man: Tell It to My Heart", poses questions about the identity of collections and analyzes their curatorial and institutional conditions using concrete examples.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus, the documenta archiv and the University of Kassel have initiated a joint project that, for the first time, reflects the two institutions Bauhaus and documenta in comparison.

Reenactments of exhibitions have become an increasingly dominant factor within the art world in recent years.

The symposium deals with the implicit narratives of modernity of Bauhaus and the documenta exhibitions.

The lecture will look back on 25 years of curatorial mediation work within contemporary art and examine its relevance in the here and now.

There are regular guided tours through the exhibition "bauhaus I documenta. Vision und Marke" in the Neue Galerie, Kassel by the documenta archivs team.

Neue Galerie, Kassel

Bauhaus and documenta are two globally successful cultural brands that stand for a cosmopolitan, innovative and modern Germany.

The exhibition "bauhaus | documenta. Vision and Brand" is accompagnied by some events.

The painter Fritz Winter (1905-1976) was present with a body of work at each of the first three documenta exhibitions.

Günther Becker’s familiar 1955 photograph of Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s Die Kniende (1911) in the rotunda of the Museum Fridericianum serves as an important record of documenta’s beginnings.

The system of art has changed decisively since the second half of the 19th century. Innovations by “independent” artists are recognized and supported by newly developed “patrons,” professions, and institutions.

We offer you a guided tour to our exhibition "In the documenta archiv #5 - “Please take off your shoes.” - Participatory art at documenta 5".

The archive’s connections to artistic and curatorial work are variegated and complex. While the idea of the archive, on the one hand, is informed and shaped by institutions dedicated to conservation, research, and exhibition,...

In view of the future documenta Institute and on the occasion of current developments in restoration and conservation science, the documenta archiv is organizing an international conference at the documenta-Halle, Kassel, from November 22 - 24, 2018.

The institution of the archive and the demands of the contemporary seem to stand in diametrical opposition to one another: How can the eternal past of that which is archived be connected with the fleeting present of the contemporary?

In the sixties of the 20th century, the first wave of the so-called participatory art took place. The fifth documenta in 1972, directed by Harald Szeemann (1933 - 2005), offered an important platform for this newly emerging art form.

“Please take off your shoes” was requested of people who wanted to have a look inside the red wooden pavilion that was created by the artists David Medalla and John Dugger in the garden of the Museum Fridericianum for documenta 5 in 1972.

We offer you a guided tour to our exhibition "In the documenta archiv #4 - documenta 1968 - a hot summer? - Documents from the preparation phase of documenta 4"