The director of the Anne Frank Education Centre, Meron Mendel, demanded the documenta remove a banner by Indonesian artists’ collective Taring Padi due to anti-Semitic motifs.
The large-scale banner features a soldier with a pig’s face wearing a scarf with a Star of David and a helmet with the inscription “Mossad.”
The work clearly crosses the line, Mendel told dpa on Monday. “These pictures leave no room for interpretation at all. This is clear anti-Semitic incitement.”
Mendel demanded the work to be covered up immediately or, ideally, removed. He also called for a discussion of the problems surrounding this year’s documenta.
Culture Minister Claudia Roth and the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, echoed Mendel’s criticisms, calling the imagery anti-Semitic and demanding steps be taken.
The documenta organizers have already faced accusations of anti-Semitism over the inclusion of artists and groups that support a cultural boycott of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.
This edition of documenta 15 is being curated by the Indonesian art collective Ruangrupa, which rejected the previous criticisms.
The 15th edition of the documenta, a three-month spectacle which puts the city of Kassel on the art world map every five years, runs to September 25. Via Reuters
