* Documenta, one of world’s largest art shows, opens in
Kassel
* Quantum physics, dog park, Hitler’s bath-towel all feature
* Created by artist banned by Nazis, expects 750,000
visitors
By Sarah Marsh and Tanya Wood
KASSEL, Germany, June 8 (Reuters) – Stroll through a park in
the sleepy German town of Kassel this summer and you can explore
fairytale cottages brimming with bizarre objects, hear the
sounds of the Brazilian jungle and enter the set of a West
African theatrical performance.
This is just one of the venues of “documenta”, one of the
world’s biggest and most ambitious contemporary art fairs, which
takes place every five years and which opens on Saturday.
This year’s fair is the 13th documenta since its founding in
1955 by an artist banned by the Nazis and showcases the work of
participants from some 56 countries, including Britain’s Tacita
Dean and South Africa’s William Kentridge.
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, the festival’s artistic
director, said she wants to broaden documenta’s focus from the
visual arts to culture at large, ranging from quantum physics to
historical artefacts.
A U.S.-born Italian-Bulgarian art historian with a
distinctive mop of tightly curled golden hair, she dislikes
categories and has frustrated some by providing no over-arching
concept for the exhibition, preferring a “holistic” approach.
Continued…
