When Documenta opens to the public this weekend it will be in an atmosphere of increased security. The event says it is hiring additional staff following a break-in and the spraying of what it says is threatening graffiti. On 28 May vandals sprayed ‘187’ and ‘PERALTA’ on the interior walls of one venue: the former apparently referring to the California Penal Code for murder, the latter a possible reference to Isabelle Peralta, who is believed to be the leader of a far-right youth organisation in Spain. Stickers have also appeared around the festival’s buildings bearing slogans including ‘Freedom instead of Islam! No compromises with barbarism! Consistently fight Islam!’
The break-in follows a long-running dispute over anti-semitism claims, with various Jewish groups complaining about previous statements concerning the actions of the Israeli government towards the people of Palestine made by various Documenta contributors.
Ruangrupa, the curators of the festival, said ‘We regard the acts as a politically motivated threat at the exhibition site of The Question of Funding and Party Office and as an attack on all of us, the lumbung members and lumbung artists. We want a working atmosphere in which violence against people, places and works of art is not tolerated. All of us in the lumbung community look forward to welcoming each other and the general public to Kassel soon, and we are counting on the solidarity and friendships we have built together over the last few years, also within the city’s ecosystem, to to realize this intention.’
The controversies have not dented interest in the event. So far 54,000 tickets have been sold, considerably more than the 20,000 advance purchased at the same point in time for the last edition in 2017.
