2026 Annual Preview

In the year leading up to documenta 16, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH will be presenting a varied program. With preparations for the upcoming documenta exhibition already underway behind the scenes, visitors can look forward to a year full of art and culture in Kassel in 2026, reflecting and perpetuating the central themes and questions of documenta. 

In 2026, the Fridericianum will place three key emphases with its solo exhibitions of photographer Catherine Opie (February 14 – July 19, 2026), sculptor Charles Ray (August 22, 2026 – January 3, 2027) and artist Mohammed Sami (October 3, 2026 – January 3, 2027). 

The documenta archiv will report on, among other things, an ongoing research project on female artists at documenta (March 19, 2026) and is hosting a conference titled Subverting Archival Practices (May 7–9, 2026). The studio exhibition format will continue, including a show dedicated to Bazon Brock (June 2 – September 11, 2026).

At the start of the year, the documenta Institut will be showcasing the research exhibition The China Moment (January 24 – March 22, 2026). Insights into the research will also be shared with the public at the symposium Critical Fabulations of documenta (July 9–11, 2026) and the conference Art – Exhibition – Discourse (June 2026). 

Andreas Hoffmann, managing director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH:
“After the retrospectives and reminiscences marking the 70th anniversary of the documenta, the documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH will, in 2026, turn toward new areas of action and pressing questions of the present and future. Conceptions of the self and the other, artistic recording systems, and unsettling interpretations of classical genres and themes will be at the center of the coming year. With its varied program, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH underscores its role as an institution for contemporary art and research – while also setting the stage for documenta 2027.”