The Indonesian arts scene was thrust into the limelight with the appointment of art collective Ruangrupa as artistic director of Documenta, one of the world’s most prestigious art events.

Held every five years, Documenta started out in the industrial German town of Kassel in 1955 to bring Germany back into a dialog with the rest of the world after the end of World War II.

Since then, hundreds of artists have taken part in each Documenta exhibition that once featured the likes of Wassily Kandinsky and Pablo Picasso, putting it on par with prestigious art events like the Venice Biennale or Art Basel and drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors over the course of the 100-day exhibition.

Ruangrupa made history in February this year by being named the first-ever Asian group and first-ever art collective to curate Documenta 15, scheduled to be held from June 18 to Sept. 25, 2022. Ruangrupa also took part in Documenta 14 in 2017, setting up the Every Time a Ear di Soun internet radio station for the exhibition.

The decision is also notable as Ruangrupa was unanimously nominated by the eight-member International Finding Committee. 

Ute Meta Bauer, a member of Documenta’s finding committee and founding director of Nanyang Technological University’s Center for Contemporary Art Singapore said the true significance of Ruangrupa as artistic director remained to be seen, noting that it would come to light when Documenta 15 came to a close.

The fact that Ruangrupa is an artist collective with 10 core members, Bauer said, is not unusual as Documenta 2 was done by 26 advisors alongside initiator Arnold Bode. It was only in Documenta 5 that the exhibition had an artistic director after a structural change, as previous exhibitions had been handled by committees.

Turning point: Indonesian art collective Ruangrupa has been selected to be the artistic director of the prestigious Documenta 15 art exhibition in Kassel, Germany, in 2022. (Courtesy of documenta/Gudskul/Jin Panji)

“Of course, nobody can do such a big exhibition alone, but it’s indeed the first time that I would say a cultural collective is doing this,” Bauer, who also served as cocurator of Documenta 11 in 2002, told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta.

She noted that Ruangrupa, with its over 18-year track record in the field, comprises artists, but they are also organizers of bigger events like OK.Video. They also joined the Sonsbeek art exhibition in Arnhem, the Netherlands, as well as oversaw the Jakarta Biennale.

Bauer said the finding committee was not looking for a particular region to highlight, but with more than 200 art biennales around, the question was “what would make Documenta different?”

“We were looking for curators who really might have a different idea on what to do […] It is expected to give a different stimulation or inspiration of how we can continue in the art world in a different way.”

Though Ruangrupa is the first Indonesian group getting the position, Documenta is really not about national representation, she said. 

“It’s not about nation-states. It’s really about topics, about issues that are crucial in the moment of time.”

Bauer recognizes Indonesia’s vibrant art scene but to decide Ruangrupa as Documenta’s artistic director based on its country of origin would be “weird”.

“To narrow it down to a nation would be very weird. We chose Ruangrupa for Ruangrupa,” she said.

The collective, based in Jakarta, was set up in 2000, or two years after the fall of the repressive Soeharto regime. Its members took advantage of their newfound freedom by offering exhibition spaces, publishing services, research, workshops and setting up events.

The collective’s director, Ade Darmawan, earlier said it had not planned out the entirety of what it would bring but aimed to create a globally oriented, cooperative, interdisciplinary art and culture platform that would have an impact beyond the 100 days of Documenta 15.

For the culture: Documenta International Finding Committee member Ute Meta Bauer (right) talks at a discussion at the Gother Haus in Jakarta on the selection of Ruangrupa to curate the Documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany. (Courtesy of ruangrupa/Panji Purnama Putra)

“If Documenta was launched in 1955 to heal war wounds, why shouldn’t we focus Documenta 15 on today’s injuries, especially the ones rooted in colonialism, capitalism or patriarchal structures, and contrast them with partnership-based models that enable people to have a different view of the world,” he said.

When chosen to become Documenta15’s artistic director, Ade said Ruangrupa dedicated a large amount of time to internally discussing the opportunity and what could be done about it.

“Our curation plan will simply follow what Documenta needs us to do and also be according to our own curation mechanisms that have made Ruangrupa what it has been for the past 19 years,” Ade told the Post.

Bauer said when news of Ruangrupa’s appointment was announced, there were many opinions, including critics, from questions on “who owns Documenta” and whether the upcoming exhibition will be representative of the world or skewed to Indonesia or Southeast Asia.

However, she said Ruangrupa should not be pressured to show more Indonesian artists.

“I don’t want to diminish the Indonesian arts scene because I know the scene quite well and it’s quite a vibrant scene, but what I wanted to say is that people here should be proud that Ruangrupa has been selected for its steady work over 18 years, to also see it as encouragement that one does not need to be a
famous Western curator to be selected to run such a project,” Bauer said.

“We also have to believe in what we do, and we shouldn’t feel that we don’t exist if we are not in Documenta, because the majority of artists will not be. I think for me that would be a much more important message than to think about how many artists from Indonesia there will be. Artists have meaning where they live.” (ste)