Female Artists of documenta: Keynote and Panel discussion

The history of documenta has so far been told from the perspective of male artists.

documenta Works by male artists have become firmly embedded in the visual memory of modernism and postmodernism, while artistic positions taken by women have often been perceived as merely marginal appearances. Although the list of female participants in documenta includes such prominent names as Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, Eva Hesse, and Rebecca Horn, the structural causes of this underrepresentation have never been investigated.

In a keynote lecture, art historian Renate Petzinger will present the initial findings of a research project that examines the role of women from the beginnings of documenta to the present day.

In the subsequent panel discussion, Birgitta Coers and Renate Petzinger will join Stefan Fricke (hr2 kultur) and artist Christina Kubisch to discuss artistic practice, visibility, and institutional frameworks.

Renate Petzinger was curator at the Museum Wiesbaden from 1990 to 2005 and deputy director of the museum from 2006 to 2009. From 1988 to 1990, she headed the research project “Women Artists, Filmmakers, and Designers in the Federal Republic of Germany” and at the same time prepared the exhibition “Women Artists of the 20th Century” at the Museum Wiesbaden.

Christina Kubisch has been working at the intersection of performance, sound, video, and visual arts since the 1970s. Her works have been featured in documenta 8 (1987) and documenta 14 (2017), among others. Until 2013, she held the Chair of Audiovisual Arts at the Saar College of Fine Arts in Saarbrücken; her publications include works on gender issues in the arts.

Stefan Fricke is editor for new music/sound art at Hessischer Rundfunk (hr2 kultur) and has been an honorary professor at the Mainz University of Music since 2017.