documenta. Politics and Art. | 18 June 2021 to 9 January 2022

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Dear Sir or Madam,

we cordially invite you to the press conference
on Wednesday, 16 June 2021 at 10 a.m. (CET)
at the Deutsches Historisches Museum.
The preview is scheduled for 9 a.m. onwards in the Pei building.

The speakers will be:
Raphael Gross, President of the Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum
Hortensia Völckers, board member / Artistic Director of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes
Lars Bang Larsen, curator of the exhibition
Julia Voss, curator of the exhibition
Dorothee Wierling, curator of the exhibition

The press conference will be held in German and English and streamed via YouTube.

As an alternative, we also invite you to take part in a digital press preview via livestream on Thursday, 17 June 2021 at 5 p.m. (CET).
The livestream tour (60 min.) with our education officer will be given in English.

Documenta rose to become Germany's most successful art exhibition – an achievement that was due not least to its political dimension, in particular the attempt to draw a line under National Socialism, and the formation of the Eastern and Western blocs in the Cold War. Although documenta tried to distance itself from Nazi cultural policy, it avoided dealing openly with the Nazi past. At the same time, its politically motivated orientation towards 'the West' meant the decisive rejection – and deprecation – of the socialist concept of art that was propagated in 'the East'.

The Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) presents the first exhibition to examine Kassel's celebrated art show with the aim of exploring the multifaceted interplay between politics and art in German society after 1945. Following its debut in 1955 as a major exhibition with international ambitions, documenta became a place where West Germany's image of itself was renegotiated. Every four years (later, five years), its organisers and curators set themselves the task of illuminating current trends in art. This exhibition by the Deutsches Historisches Museum breaks new ground by placing the history of the first to the tenth documentas in the context of the political, cultural and social development of the Federal Republic of Germany between 1955 and 1997. Occupying two floors of the building, it brings together works of art, films, documents, posters, oral history interviews and other original objects of cultural and historical value in order to illustrate how documenta, as an art event and a historical venue, commented on, demanded and reflected political and social change.

The exhibition has received funding from the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Federal Cultural Foundation).

The new digital format of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, MORE STORY, provides virtual visitors with an introduction to the exhibition’s topics as well as additional in-depth content in both German and English. Among them, a video interview with the historian Carlo Gentile about his latest research regarding Werner Haftmann, one of documenta’s founding fathers.

Please take note of the following information and the registration form

• If you plan to travel to Berlin: The on-site press conference will take place on 16 June 2021 exclusively within the period from 9 a.m. (start of accreditation) to 2:00 p.m.

Mandatory registration is required in advance. Please register with your full name (and, if applicable, your colleagues' names), using the enclosed registration form, at presse@dhm.de.

The deadline for registration is Tuesday, 15 June 2021 at 5 p.m. (CET).
Entry will be denied to anyone who is unable to present accreditation.

The participation is only permitted upon presentation of a negative result of a point-of-care (PoC) antigen test or a negative result of a current PCR test for an infection with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which is not older than 24 hours. A so-called self-test is not permitted as proof. Vaccinated persons may enter the museum from the 15th day after receiving the second vaccination without presenting a negative test. Those who have recovered can present a positive PCR test as proof if it dates back to at least 6 months and receiving the first vaccination 14 days before or at least 28 days to a maximum of 6 months (proof will be checked at the entrance).
 

• Livestream tour on 17 June 2021: Binding registration is required in advance. Please register with your full name, using the enclosed registration form, at presse@dhm.de.

The deadline for registration is Tuesday, 15 June 2021 at 5 p.m. (CET).

After registering, we will send you a link in order to take part.

Please take account of the time difference if you are in another time zone.

• Interviews with the curators can be held individually, by video or telephone. Please use the form to tell us who you would like to interview and at what time, subject to availability.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Daniela Lange
Press and Public Relations

Personal Data / Accreditation

Please send to presse@dhm.de by Tuesday, 15 June 2021 at 5 p.m. (CET)
 

I would like to receive accreditation for:

• the digital livestream tour of documenta. Politics and Art on Thursday, 17 June 2021 at 5 p.m. (CET)

• the press conference and preview of documenta. Politics and Art on Wednesday, 16 June 2021 at 10 a.m. (CET)
  Location: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Zeughaushof (entrance via Pei-Bau)
   
• Please send me the English press kit by e-mail (from 15 June 2021).

I would like an interview appointment (in person, by video, or by phone) with:

• Raphael Gross, President of the Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum
• Lars Bang Larsen, curator (The Cultural and Political Programme of ‘the West’)
• Dorothee Wierling, curator (documenta in the Federal Republic)
• Julia Voss, curator (documenta and National Socialism)
• Alexia Pooth, research associate (The 'East' as the ‘Other’ of Modern Art)
   

Request for an appointment (date, time):__________________________________

• in person (16 June)
• by phone
• by video call

Last name, first name: __________________________________________________

Medium / publication: _________________________________________________

E-mail: ______________________________________________________________

Telephone: ________________________________