On July 15, 1955, the documenta, founded by Arnold Bode, was opened for the first time in Kassel. Since then, 15 editions of the documenta have taken place. documenta 16 is currently in preparation and will be opened in 2027 in Kassel. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of documenta, a series of exhibitions and events in the summer and fall of 2025 will focus on various aspects of the exhibition series.
Program
March
March 15 – July 27, 2025
Mario García Torres: A History of Influence
Exhibition
Fridericianum
Opening and Children’s Vernissage: Friday, March 14, 2025
Press Preview: Thursday, March 13, 2025, 11:30 AM
The exhibition by Mario García Torres not only offers an insight into his conceptual art practice, where he cleverly and humorously invents new stories from history, but also provides a joyful walk through the past decades of documenta.
Media partner for the exhibition is Monopol Magazine for Art and Life.
March 25, 2025
Karl Oskar Blase, 100th Birthday
Press Appointment
documenta archiv
Reading Room, documenta archiv
Karl Oskar Blase, the "face of documenta," would have turned 100 years old on March 24, 2025. The Kassel graphic designer had been active in the exhibition since 1964. The documenta archiv celebrates the acquisition of his artistic estate and honors Blase with a studio exhibition.
April
April 1, 2025
Art in Conflict – Antisemitism and Postcolonial Debate at documenta fifteen
Book Presentation
documenta Institute
Location: Fridericianum
Meron Mendel and Heinz Bude
The book “Art in Dispute” edited by Meron Mendel and Heinz Bude addresses the controversies surrounding antisemitism and postcolonialism at documenta fifteen.
May
May 6 – July 1, 2025
documenta lessons. Learning with, from, and without art.
Lecture Series
documenta Institute
From the very beginning, the documenta exhibitions have been about learning with and through art. After 70 years of documenta, a series of discussions will reflect on this history of learning.
May 6, 2025, 6:30 PM
Masters of the Universe, Do You Know What You’re Doing?
Discussion documenta lessons. Learning with, from, and without art.
documenta Institute
Fridericianum
Eva Maria Stadler and Heinz Bude
The conversation between Heinz Bude and Eva Maria Stadler examines the relevance of art today. How does the autonomy of art relate to the political demands on art?
May 20, 2025, 6:30 PM
The Artwork as School
Discussion documenta lessons. Learning with, from, and without art.
Jacob Grimm School Kassel
Marie Rosenkranz and Andreas Niegl
In this conversation, Marie Rosenkranz and Andreas Niegl discuss documenta art projects and exhibitions that were conceived and staged as alternative spaces of education.
June
June 3, 2025, 6:30 PM
Artivism or the Unlearning of Grace
Discussion documenta lessons. Learning with, from, and without art.
documenta Institute
WH22
María do Mar Castro Varela and Luisa Standop
Through the fusion of art and activism, Artivism challenges habitual ways of seeing. This conversation explores tensions between aesthetics and activism: Is art decoration or a tool for social change?
June 5, 2025, 7:00 PM
Revisitations
Lecture Series
Fridericianum
Opening: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Artistic Direction of documenta 13 (2012), in conversation with artist Mario García Torres
Revisitations: (Re)encounters and new perspectives. The Fridericianum and the documenta archiv complement the exhibition program of the Kunsthalle with a high-profile lecture series: Three former documenta curators will visit the Fridericianum, which this year presents Mario García Torres and Cosima von Bonin as documenta participants.
June 7, 2025, 6:00 PM
Celebration of 70 years of documenta and opening of the intervention 7000 Palms by Cosima von Bonin
Fridericianum. Following the event, a panel discussion with former and current Artistic Directions of documenta.
70 years of documenta in Kassel:
Reception and Get-Together in the inner courtyard of the Fridericianum.
June 7 – September 28, 2025
Cosima von Bonin: 7000 Palms
Intervention
Fridericianum
Press Preview: Thursday, June 5, 2025, 11:30 AM
Creativity, community, exchange – Cosima von Bonin's project 7000 Palms extends from the Fridericianum into the city space. Flags shaped like palm trees – 70 kilometers in total – connect the Kunsthalle with the public. All residents of Kassel are invited to participate in the unusual art project and decorate their city.
With generous support from the Leinemann Foundation for Education and Art, the Stark Foundation for Contemporary Art, the cdw Foundation, the Kasseler Sparkasse, and City Kaufleute Kassel e.V.
From June 12, 2025
Guided Tours – Harry Kramer in Kassel
Kramer Archive at Aschrott-Haus and Kassel Artist Necropolis in Habichtswald
(Times will be announced in advance, also through daily press)
Registration required
Throughout the summer months, the documenta archiv and the Museum for Sepulchral Culture / Foundation Kasseler Künstlernekropole invite to thematic tours of the Harry Kramer Archive and the Kassel Artist Necropolis.
June 17, 2025, 6:30 PM
What Do We Learn from Despairing at Art?
Discussion documenta lessons. Learning with, from, and without art.
documenta Institute
City Museum Kassel
Jörn Peter Budesheim and Michael Flörchinger
This conversation explores learning with and through art. What stakes does art require? What rewards does it offer? And what kind of despair can it drive us into?
June 26, 2025, 7:00 PM
Bettina Steinbrügge (Director, MUDAM Luxembourg) on Cosima von Bonin
Lecture
Fridericianum
In 2024, the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean in Luxembourg opened the major monographic exhibition Songs for Gay Dogs by Cosima von Bonin. In her lecture, MUDAM Director Bettina Steinbrügge provides insight into Bonin's multifaceted work and draws connections to the 7000 Palms project.
July
July 1, 2025, 6:30 PM
Aesthetical and Moral Ambitions of Art
Discussion documenta lessons. Learning with, from, and without art.
Slaughterhouse
Magdalena Nieslony and Claire Zimmermann
Moral criteria play an increasingly important role in the perception of art. But how does such an expectation relate to the aesthetic and discursive moments of a work of art?
July 11, 2025
Tocotronic
Concert in the Cultural Tent
In collaboration with the Fridericianum
Inspired by the long-standing artistic exchange between Cosima von Bonin and musician Dirk von Lowtzow (Tocotronic, Phantom/Ghosts), and on the occasion of the 7000 Palms project and the 70th anniversary of documenta, the concert is realized in cooperation with the Fridericianum.
August
August 21, 2025, 7:00 PM
Discussion on Joseph Beuys' 7000 Oaks – City Forestation Instead of City Administration
Fridericianum
With Johanna Adam (Curator, Bundeskunsthalle), Hans Eichel (Mayor, City of Kassel, 1975-1991), and Volker Schäfer (Foundation 7000 Oaks)
September
September 6, 2025
Kassel Museum Night
Black Market International
Performance
documenta archiv
documenta Hall
The performance group Black Market International performed two years after its founding during documenta 8 at the Kassel Renthof. On the occasion of their 40th anniversary, the group led by Boris Nieslony invites you to a multi-hour act at documenta Hall during the Kassel Museum Night.
September 11, 2025
Dr. Doris Krystof: Lecture on Daniel Buren in the context of 7000 Palms
Lecture
documenta archiv + Fridericianum
What connects the “7000 Palms” by Cosima von Bonin with the French conceptual artist Daniel Buren? The Fridericianum and the documenta archiv will highlight concepts, inspirations, and artistic references.
From September 25, 2025
re:searching documenta
Lecture Series
documenta archiv
Fridericianum, Event Hall
Starting in September 2025, art historians and curators will reflect on 70 years of documenta history in a lecture series hosted by the documenta archiv. In addition to retrospective analyses of concepts, art terms, and theories, the series will also explore the potential of the exhibition series.
with Michael Lüthy, Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, and others
October
From October 2025
Hans Hillmann on his 100th Birthday: Kassel My Mecca
Studio Exhibition
documenta archiv
Reading Room
October 25, 2025, 5:00 PM
Lecture
documenta archiv
Fridericianum, Event Hall
Hans Hillmann, participant of documenta 3, representative of the Kassel School of Poster Art, and pioneer of the graphic novel, would have celebrated his 100th birthday on October 25 – an occasion for the documenta archiv to present parts of his estate in a studio exhibition and invite to a lecture.
October 31, 2025 – February 1, 2026
Harry Kramer 100 – II
Exhibition Intervention
documenta archiv
Neue Galerie
Opening on October 30, 2025
Harry Kramer would have turned 100 in January, so the Kassel documenta artist is being celebrated from October with an exhibition intervention. The documenta archiv and the Museum for Sepulchral Culture, with support from the City of Kassel, present kinetic sculptures, films, photographs, and graphics by the universalist.
With accompanying program to the exhibition Harry Kramer 100
November
November 28 & 29, 2025
Sound Installation documenta: Before and After Max Neuhaus
November 28, 2025, 7:00 PM
Discussion with Stefan Fricke and Wulf Herzogenrath, Cologne
documenta forum, in collaboration with the documenta archiv
Palais Bellevue
Symposium
November 29, 2025, 9:30 AM
Lectures, Discussions, and Sound Examples
documenta forum, in collaboration with the documenta archiv
Fridericianum
Artist Max Neuhaus, whose artistic work “Three to One” was installed at documenta 9 in the AOK building on Friedrichsplatz, coined the term “Sound Installation” around 1967. The two-day event initiated by the documenta forum addresses the history and present of this art form at documenta.
December
December 6, 2025, 5:00 PM
Arnold Bode, 125th Birthday
Presentation, Book Launch
documenta archiv
Fridericianum, Event Hall
Karin Melchior, Hans Eichel, Heiner Georgsdorf, and others
The documenta archiv concludes the anniversary year in December with the presentation of the extended conference proceedings on the artistic canon and the first documenta, as well as a panel that approaches the documenta founder through the memory of contemporaries.
December 2025
IN/OUT Conference Proceedings
Book Presentation, Panel
documenta archiv
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