documenta 15: Bootsverleih Ahoi

In this venue: Chang En-Man, OFF-Biennale Budapest, ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics

Exhibition title: documenta 15

Curated by: ruangrupa

Venue: documenta 15, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, Germany

Date: June 18 – September 25, 2022

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and ©documenta 15

In 1950, Theo Kissler founded a boathouse on the banks of the Fulda River. After many changes, since 2015, the Bootsverleih Ahoi has been a meeting place for anyone wanting a river excursion.

For documenta fifteen, OFF-Biennale Budapest transforms part of the grounds into an imaginary playground where people can construct new models for society, together with a collaboration with Kassel’s Unterneustädter Schule, which takes over the bridge afterwards. Moreover, there is a multipart project by the artist Chang En-Man. Through the “migration” journey of Giant African Snails, the artist unveils the correlation between the history of imperialism and the modernization of the indigenous peoples in Taiwan. Her work Floating System for Snails comprises a sailable boathouse with a waiting room, and the Project Invasion that invades different sites in Kassel.

At Bootsverleih Ahoi visitors can start the walk, which was conceived by the artists of MAP (Markus Ambach Projekte) on invitation of lumbung member ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics. The urban trail leads to protagonists and initiatives of local knowledge in the east of Kassel. Their projects and interventions—for example the monument to Lucius Burckhardt or the allotment garden museum—can be found on this short walk along a trail marked in blue from the river Fulda to Bettenhausen

documenta fifteen, 2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel

documenta fifteen: OFF-Biennale Budapest, Eva Koťátková, Daydreaming Workstation, 2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 12, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: OFF-Biennale Budapest, Eva Koťátková, Daydreaming Workstation, 2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel

documenta fifteen: OFF-Biennale Budapest, Ádám Kokesch, Untitled (Meander), 2021, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 12, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Chang En-Mang, Floating System for Snails, waiting room, 2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 15, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Chang En-Mang, Floating System for Snails, 2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 15, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Chang En-Mang, Floating System for Snails, 2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel

documenta fifteen: OFF-Biennale Budapest, Ilona Németh, Floating Gardens (Future Garden, Healing Garden), 2011-2022, installation view, Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 12, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: OFF-Biennale Budapest, Ádám Kokesch, Untitled (Caravan), 2022, installation view (outside), Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 12, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: OFF-Biennale Budapest, Ádám Kokesch, Untitled (Caravan), 2022, installation view (inside), Bootsverleih Ahoi, Kassel, June 12, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling