All of the invited artists are collectives, and that alone makes this documenta unique. In turn, many of those collectives invited their own communities and collaborators to participate through dedicated exhibitions or projects. The guiding principle was \u201cnot big, but many\u201d and with more than 1,500 participating artists, this documenta can hardly be considered only an exhibition. It\u2019s more like an experiment in form that turns the city of Kassel and the contemporary-art establishment into sites for gathering, for friendship, for joy, for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the volume of work and the decentralized approach, the pace is remarkably unhurried. Care for the visitor experience is palpable in thoughtfully designed spaces ready for hanging out, napping, eating, resting, playing, even skateboarding\u200a\u2014\u200aall making difficult art experiences more manageable. Rarely do art spaces so seamlessly involve children, but RURUKIDS and Gudskul, two spaces for children and youths to play, learn, and create on the ground floor of the Fridericianum, were clearly prioritized. Many sites are best experienced with others, at your own pace. Friendship is a value here, and conversation a kind of currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"RURUKIDS-workshop](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/106_CRL_Wilkinson_documenta15_RURUKIDS_CORR20220822-scaled.jpg\")
workshop with Bellina Erby and Wajukuu Art, Fridericianum, Kassel, 2022.
Photo: Nicolas Wefers, courtesy of documenta 15, Kassel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s true that this edition is about process over product, but in fact there are more kinds of art on view and a more expansive understanding of art practice than ever. ruangrupa\u2019s structuring concept, lumbung<\/em> (in Indonesia, a lumbung is a communal rice barn, a place where farmers can share harvests together) has been applied to all sorts of activities that expand upon what it means to create: lumbung radio, lumbung press (with a collectively run offset printer in the main building), lumbung.space online, lumbung gallery, and the network of lumbung artists who are working together across digital space and IRL, in Kassel, in Indonesia, and in their home communities. More than anything, the legacy of this documenta is its commitment to resource redistribution and circular or shared economic models, as the ethos of lumbung permeates every activity, particularly the many projects addressing food and land sovereignty. The most visible of these is the massive garden project by Britto Arts Trust transforming the lawn beside the Documenta Halle into an organic palan<\/em> (a Bengali kitchen garden) to grow, share, and serve food, and to host workshops on the politics of food and displacement. There\u2019s Gudskul\u2019s kitchen, an outdoor hangout area in a lot behind the Fridericianum, where food is served and informal karaoke events hosted. The Neue Br\u00fcderkirche Gemeinschaftsgarten, a community garden operated as part of Kassel\u2019s New Brethren Church, hosted talks and meals with Beirut-based Marwa Arsanios and Johannesburg-based collective MADEYOULOOK, in order to share experiences about communalizing public space by growing food. In a more industrial area of the city, Sandershaus\u200a\u2014\u200aa hostel that operates a live music\/punk venue, a caf\u00e9 and bar, a beer garden, and a space for upcycling workshops, and maintains its top two floors for refugees and newcomers, many of whom attend or co-organize programs\u200a\u2014\u200asimilarly embodies documenta 15\u2019s core principles of making space for gathering and finding alternative economic models. The collectives working on site, including Serigrafistas queer, Sa Sa Art Projects, and Trampoline House, use the former warehouse to host projects and workshops supporting migrants and refugees, while outdoor experiments with permaculture methods will help repair and regenerate the landscape. Like many documenta 15 projects, this type of work requires conversation, an investment of time, and curiosity. And it can\u2019t be bought and sold, a rationale that perhaps annoyed many of the established critics and curators who lamented that this documenta contains no art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all the inspiring ways that ruangrupa\u2019s approach is radically overhauling how contemporary art is produced, funded, and shown, it came with severe costs\u200a\u2014\u200amonths of right-wing attacks on the curators, accusations of racism, the removal of a large mural due to its anti-Semitic stereotypes, and questions about the role of documenta\u2019s administration and even whether it will continue. All have been well covered in the media, but many accounts fail to consider the artwork itself. The racist graffiti spray-painted in Palestinian collective The Question of Funding\u2019s space was retained rather than painted over, offering a powerful reminder of the need for solidarity, which is also what that project is about. The exhibition by Gaza City\u200a\u2014\u200abased painting collective Eltiqa is small, maybe a dozen works, but indicative of methods endemic to this documenta: the collective\u2019s work is about building exhibition spaces, and sharing resources and funding streams to do so. Texts and a timeline were incorporated into the scaffolding that holds the works, mostly paintings with some photographs and drawings, so that viewers are simultaneously reminded of the working conditions for Palestinian artists. It begins with the simple facts of occupation (\u201c1948 The Nakba; 1967 The Naksa; 1987 The outbreak of the first intifada\u2026\u201d) and offers stark accounts of the murderous violence continually inflicted upon Palestine. But these are set alongside more joyous personal benchmarks in the lives of collective members (two are married, several have been friends for decades) to give context and depth to the richness of life as an artist, even amidst traumatic situations. It makes the colourful abstract work by Mohamed Abusal, in particular, stand in sharp, unsettling relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversations around this edition have drifted into a steady response to a single presentation, rather than addressing how so much of the work here is deeply committed to undoing structures that perpetuate racism and violence. It\u2019s difficult to predict how the legacy of this unfolding event will play out in years to come. More than any biennale in recent memory, this documenta is committed to enacting practical alternatives to capitalism\u2019s economic and cultural hierarchies through a collective commitment to working together. It could be a real turning point in how biennales are produced, and it offers many teaching models for how to scale up collective practices, values, and visions into something that can be genuinely transformative. It\u2019s unlike anything that has come before it, and it should be celebrated for that.<\/p>\n![\"documenta15_Fridericianum_Baan_Noorg\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/106_CRL_Wilkinson_documenta15_Fridericianum_Baan_Noorg20220822-scaled.jpg\")
Halfpipe<\/em>, installation view, Fridericianum, Kassel, 2022.
Photo: Nicolas Wefers, courtesy of documenta 15, Kassel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"documenta15_MADEYOULOOK\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/106_CRL_Wilkinson_documenta15_MADEYOULOOK20220822-scaled.jpg\")
Mafolofolo<\/em>, installation view, Hessenland, Kassel, 2022.
Photo: Frank Sperling, courtesy of documenta 15, Kassel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n