- documenta
At their meeting yesterday, November 28, 2018, the commitees of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH set the course for documenta’s future.
On the one hand, the financial plan for 2019 was passed, while on the other benchmarks were discussed for the five-year-plan until 2023 with the goal of securing the planning and implementation for documenta 15, which will take place from June 18–September 25, 2022.
With an eye on artistic needs as well as general increases in costs and greater demands in terms of security, sustainability, and visitor services, the budget planning for documenta 15 will include an appropriate increase in funding.
Over the past few months, initial structural changes were undertaken for documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH to secure continuous quality and a basic structure that future artistic teams can rely upon. These include the establishment of a controlling mechanism and the introduction of a new department of communication and marketing.
In finalizing the closure of accounts for 2017, the shareholders also have agreed to each bear half of the costs of the financial gap left after documenta 14 that initially were calculated at 5.4 million euros which now – after finalization of the audit – are calculated as 7.6 million euros. This gap resulted in part due to the implementation of the chosen concept of a documenta exhibition held in two locations.
“Now concrete planning can begin for documenta 15”, in the words of Christian Geselle, Kassel’s Lord Mayor and chairman of the supervisory board of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. “The finding committee is in the midst of the selection process, the expanded team around director general Dr. Sabine Schormann has been on board since November, and the new director of Fridericianum Moritz Wesseler also began in November: all in all, after a brief period between rough waters and lulls, as can happen on any sea journey, the ship is now back on course. Thanks for this positive development go to the interim CEO Wolfgang Orthmayr, and director general Dr. Sabine Schormann, who over the past few months have worked hand in hand intensely on these issues.”
“There is likely to be a great deal of debate in times to come, that’s virtually part of the DNA of one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art worldwide,” according to Boris Rhein, Hessian Minister for Science and Art and deputy chairman of the supervisory board. “documenta invents itself each time anew, daring to take risks in artistic and curatorial terms, taking a stand on social and political issues. Respective discussions are explicitly welcome. With the decisions of the supervisory board and the above mentioned structural changes we now have created a solid foundation for documentas future."
“We are pleased about the faith that the supervisory board and the shareholders place in documenta and the important role it plays in society’s overall development, and we will continue intently to build on the future of documenta with our highly motivated and competent team,” in the words of the director general of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH Dr. Sabine Schormann.