Reflections on documenta 15

documenta 15 or lumbung 1 held in Germany this year turned the (artworld) cart upside down. Following Nigerian curator Okwui Enwezor’s documenta 11 in 2002, Indonesian art collective ruangrupa (which also means a space for art) were the first Asian artistic director and first collective of the prestigious event that happens only once every five years.

Formed in 2000 in Jakarta by a group of seven artists, ruangrupa provides a platform in Indonesia for exhibitions, research, publishing, workshops and events, often working across the disciplines of art, social science, politics and technology. If audiences were looking for the classic Venice style biennale in Kassel this year they were in for a big surprise, which left many asking “Where is the art?”

‘lumbung’ refers to communal rice-barn, where the surplus harvest is stored for the benefit of the community. ruangrupa took the opportunity to share the stage with fourteen other collectives from the South, from Indonesia to Haiti, from Mali to India. These collectives in turn invited ‘friends’ - a term ruangrupa prefers - to participate. This communal sharing: of solidarity, of equity, of art activism, may be familiar to many in the Global South but saw a clash with market oriented values prevalent in the Western-centered art world. The ruangrupa led documenta 15 challenged the conventional definition of the artwork as well as market driven systems and practices. The absence of artists linked to prestigious galleries was cause for concern by invested parties. Occupying centre stage rather were cultural workers, activists, community collectives, et al.

The panel discussion took place on 23 November 2022 featuring Gabriela Salgado, Kian Chow Kwok, Nkule Mabaso and Riason Naidoo via Zoom.