Sabine Schuermann, who is in charge of Documenta, a major art gallery in Germany, has resigned after an anti-Semitic work fair sparked protests at the event’s opening last month. The news is presented on Sundays depending on the direction of the fair.
The board of directors of Documenta, one of the largest and most important international fairs for contemporary and modern art, which takes place every four years in Kassel, Germany, lamented what it described as the “unmistakably anti-Semitic motifs” that appear in the work in question, on display at the end of the week. Introductory.
The council said, “The presentation of collective artist Tring Buddy’s ‘People’s Justice’ banner, with anti-Semitic images, was a clear infringement, and therefore caused serious damage to Documenta.” The sign shows a pig-faced soldier wearing a scarf around his neck with a Star of David and a helmet reading “Mossad,” the name of Israel’s intelligence service. The criticism did not take long to appear in large numbers and the work was withdrawn days later.
Indonesia-based group Taring Padi has apologized for the incident and explained that the work, which was first shown 20 years ago at the South Australian Arts Festival in Adelaide, had “nothing to do” with anti-Semitism, and yes to the post-1965 dictatorship in Indonesia. “We regret that the details of this ‘sign’ were misinterpreted beyond its original purpose,” the group said last month. “We apologize for the damage that has been caused in this context.”
Documenta’s board of directors called for a speedy investigation into the incident.
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