The general director of Documenta Kassel resigns after an anti-Semitism scandal

The General Director of Documenta Kassel, Sabine Schormanresigned this Saturday due to the anti-Semitism scandal that devastated this edition of this contemporary art event.

“The supervisory board, shareholders and CEO Sabine Schormann mutually agreed terminate your contract as CEO without notice. Initially, an interim successor will be sought”, says a statement released in the last few hours.

The decision was taken at a meeting held on Saturday night “in the context of accusations of anti-Semitism” against the current edition of the fair and “with a view to the future of Documenta”.

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The control body clearly distanced itself from the work that gave rise to the scandal by expressing “his deep consternation” due to the fact that on the opening weekend of Documenta “clearly anti-Semitic motifs were seen”.

“The presentation of the banner popular justice by artistic collective Taring Padiwith its anti-Semitic images, it was a clear transgression of limits and caused considerable damage to Documenta”, says the supervisory board, which considers it “essential to clarify this incident” as soon as possible.

He regrets that “unfortunately, a lot of confidence was lost with the placement of the banner and also with crisis management in recent weeks“, so it is “essential” that everything possible is done to recover it.

The supervisory board also highlights the “important social task” of “effectively combat anti-Semitism and misanthropy in relation to certain groups also in art and culture”.

Furthermore, the city of Kassel and the state of Hesse declare that they are “united in the common goal of prosecuting errors in the area of anti-Semitism and structural deficits and doing everything possible to ensure that, even in the future, Documenta's status as a unique contemporary art exhibition in the world“.

There have been repeated calls for Schormann to resign in recent weeks. Recently, the director of the Anne Frank Center, Meron Mendel, withdrew from his position as advisor to Documenta to analyze possible anti-Semitic content in other works at the fair, accusing Schormann of passivity after uncovering the scandal.

The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said that Documenta had failed when it came to anti-Semitism.

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