Documenta 15 is not a show that is particularly built for photos. There are interesting art objects nestled within its many, many venues throughout Kassel, but they definitely don’t set the tone. Instead, this is a show of films, archives, educational materials, and public programs.
At the press preview, various artists and artist groups were still busily toiling away on their installations. Many said that they took the idea of a 100-day show as an invitation to explore ideas of process.
Documenta 15, then, is a show that will be experienced very differently depending on when and where you enter it. Nevertheless, below are some pictures to give a sense of what the show felt like on its opening days.
Work by Taring Padi in the facade of C&A department store. Photo by Ben Davis.
Outside the Documenta welcome center at ruruHaus. Photo by Ben Davis.
Alice Yard, We Are the People Too (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics, Beeholder – Beecoin – BeeDAO (2018-2022) at ruruHaus. Photo by Ben Davis.
An installation by Dan Perjovschi on the facade of the Fridericianum at Documenta. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation of archives, documentation, and more from the collective Gudskul at the Fridericianum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation of texts inside Gudskul’s Gudspace (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works from Malgorzata Mirga-Tas’s “Out of Egypt” series on view at the Fridericianum. Photo by Ben Davis.
The Rojava Film Commune, Darên Bi Tenê (Lonely Trees); Pargin Project of documenting Rojava’s musical heritage (2018) at the Fridericianum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Damian le Bas, Back to the Future! Safe European Home 1938 (2013). Photo by Ben Davis.
The Black Archives, Black Pasts & Presents: Interwoven Histories of Solidarity (2022) in the Fridericianum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Centre d’art Waza, Collection Verbeek – Mwewe (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Richard Bell, Tent Embassy (2013–ongoing) in the Friedrichsplatz. Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by the collective Taring Padi. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by INLAND at Naturkundemuseum im Ottoneum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Visitors watching Hito Steyerl, Animal Spirits (2022) at the Naturkundemuseum im Ottoneum. Photo by Ben Davis.
The front of Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by Wajukuu Art Project at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by INSTAR (Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt) at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Recreation of the project Curators, Go Home!!! by Sandra Ceballos at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by Britto Arts Trust at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Skateboarders on Baan Noorg Collaborative Arts and Culture, Churning Milk Mini Ramp (2022) at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Lumbung Press, a collectively run offset print shop started as part of Documenta, at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Movie poster outside screening room for Wakaliga Uganda at the Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Info for Hamja Ahsan’s web series Theological Positions on Fried Chicken at Documenta Halle. Photo by Ben Davis.
Graphics by Black Quantum Futures located in an underpass. Photo by Ben Davis.
Black Quantum Futures, Oral Futures Booth – Temporal Confessional, Black Grandmother Clock (2022) located in an underpass. Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Agus Nur Amal PMTOH at Grimmwelt Kassel. Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Erick Beltrán at the Museum für Sepulkralkultur. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by MADEYOULOOK at Hotel Hessenland. Photo by Ben Davis.
Safdar Ahmed, Border Fence (2022) at the Stadtmuseum Kassel. Photo by Ben Davis.
Various works by Dan Perjovschi in the plaza in front of the train station in Kassel. Photo by Ben Davis.
Drawing by Dan Perjovschi in Rainer-Dierichs-Platz. Photo by Ben Davis.
A bronze turtle skull that belonged to artist Jimmie Durham. Photo by Ben Davis.
Community garden by Arts Collaboratory at Trafohaus. Photo by Ben Davis.
Community garden by Nhà Sàn Collective at WH22. Photo by Ben Davis.
A Moroccan film library in collaboration with AWAL and Archives Bouanani Collective at WH22. Photo by Ben Davis.
Visitors look at Blue Curry, Leisure Aesthetics (2022) at WH22. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by the group The Question of Funding at WH22. Photo by Ben Davis.
Mohammed Abusal, Thrones and Flowers I (2016) at WH22. Photo by Ben Davis.
Resting Ramp at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
A group of performers post at the Camp workspace, a project of Camp notes on education. Photo by Ben Davis.
Display of banners from *foundationClass collective at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Fadi Aljabour, Breathing inside your guts I (2017) at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Display of comic panels by Nino Bulling at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Camp Notes on Education, CAMP Space (2022) at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Fehras Publishing Practices, Borrowed Faces at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Jumana Emil Abboud at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Graphics from the Composting Knowledge project at at Hafenstraße 76. Photo by Ben Davis.
Serigrafistas Queer, Rancho Cuis (Cuis Ranch) (2022) at Sandershaus/Haferkakaofabrik. Photo by Ben Davis.
Lumbung Kiosk, a functional community shop, at work in Hübner-areal. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by Foundation Festival sur le Niger at Hübner-areal. Photo by Ben Davis.
Yaya Coulibaly, The Wall of Puppets (2022) at Hübner-areal. Photo by Ben Davis.
Jatiwangi Art Factory, Kosmik Studio (2021-ongoing) at Hübner-areal. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation by the Ghetto Biennial at the church of St. Kunigundus, with a sculpture by Vivian Chan in collaboration with André Eugène and Leah Gordon hanging from the ceiling. Photo by Ben Davis.
Two works from Edouard Duval-Carrié’s “The Black President” series at the church of St. Kunigundus. Photo by Ben Davis.
Entrance to the exhibition by the collective Taring Padi at Hallenbad Ost. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation of artworks by Taring Padi at Hallenbad Ost. Photo by Ben Davis.
Cinema Caravan and Takashi Kuribayashi, YATAI TRIP PROJECT – road to documenta (2021-2022) in Karlswiese (Karlsaue). Photo by Ben Davis.
Cao Minghao & Chen Jianjun, Water System Refuge #3 (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Cao Minghao & Chen Jianjun, The Ecology of Sands and “Black Beach” (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
The Nest Collective, Return to Sender (2022) in Karlswiese (Karlsaue). Photo by Ben Davis.
Video in the Nest Collective, Return to Sender (2022) in Karlswiese (Karlsaue). Photo by Ben Davis.
The official Documenta 15 belt bag being sold in the Documenta gift shop. Photo by Ben Davis.
Poster by Cem A. made as part of the Lumbung Harvest project of artworks responding to discussions at the exhibition. Photo by Ben Davis.
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