Italian theorist Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s poem Auschwitz on the Beach, which was due to be performed tomorrow, has been cancelled following the volume of public criticism aimed at the work’s comparison of the Holocaust and the current refugee crisis in Europe. The curator of Documenta’s public programme The Parliament of Bodies, Paul B. Preciado, has said in a statement: ‘We respect those who might feel offended by the title of Berardi’s poem. We don’t want to add pain to their grief.’ However, despite complaints, the event will be replaced by a public reading of the poem to ‘foster a conversation including all voices, followed by a reading of his poem and a participatory discussion on the new faces of fascism and the current policies of migration in Europe’, under a new title: Shame on Us: A Reading and Discussion. Artistic director Adam Szymczyk has responded to the criticism by assuring the public that ‘the planned discussion and reading of Berardi’s poem within the Parliament of Bodies is a warning against historical amnesia, a call for an awakening of conscience and for collective action—and not an attempt to relativize the Holocaust.’
23 August 2017
