documenta 15: Hübner Areal

In this venue: Amol K Patil, BOLOHO, FAFSWAG, Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Hamja Ahsan, Jatiwangi art Factory, Kiri Dalena, Project Art Works, Sa Sa Art Projects, Sebastián Díaz Morales, Simon Danang Anggoro, Subversive Film, Trampoline House

Exhibition title: documenta 15

Curated by: ruangrupa

Venue: documenta 15, Hübner Areal, Kassel, Germany

Date: June 18 – September 25, 2022

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

A central site in the Kassel district of Bettenhausen, which is being used by documenta for the first time this year, is the area that the Hübner company—a major manufacturer of parts for buses and trains—only recently vacated. The company’s move left space for a collaborative exhibition, in which the works influence one another.

Fondation Festival sur le Niger, from Mali, which has initiated a world-famous festival in its homeland and explores hospitality and other central traditions of Malian culture, brings processions, concerts, theater, film, and (other) contemporary art to the areal. BOLOHO from Guangzhou, China, is shooting and streaming a sitcom in the cafeteria. Trampoline House, which advocates for migrants’ rights in Copenhagen, Denmark, is symbolically bringing its project to Kassel in the form of a Brechtian chalk circle to present a public program that questions the Danish asylum system.

Amol K Patil, from Mumbai, India, is creating an installation from, among other things, a stage with kinetic sand, performers who skate for 100 days, a hologram, a screening, and several objects. Hamja Ahsan’s Halal Fried Chicken shop signs are visible in this as well as seven other venues of documenta fifteen, mapping aspects of Islamic history, diasporic urban fast-food subcultures, and colonial past. Additionally, the Jatiwangi art Factory is presenting installations of roof tiles and bricks. This joint project by the Indonesian collective is also enlivening the exhibition hall with musical performances and performative events, including a coffee tasting, conferences, and discussions.

Sebastián Díaz Morales and Simon Danang Anggoro collaborate to produce their own artistic work, which can be seen as harvest. nongkrong, humour, improvisation, solidarity, friendship, and generosity are some of the key elements driving the scripts of the films they have made on ruangrupa’s practice for documenta fifteen.

documenta fifteen, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: Sebastián Díaz Morales, Simon Danang Anggoro, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: Fondation Festival sur le Niger, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, June 15, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, June 15, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, June 15, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, June 15, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Trampoline House, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Project Art Works, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: Fondation Festival sur le Niger, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: : Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Yaya Coulibaly, The Wall of Puppets, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Maja Wirkus

documenta fifteen: : Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Yaya Coulibaly, The Wall of Puppets, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–fortlaufend, Installationsansicht (Detail), Hübner-Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, 2022

documenta fifteen: Fondation Festival sur le Niger, 2022, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: : Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Abdoulaye Konat, Hommage aux chasseurs du Mandé, 1996, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Maja Wirkus

documenta fifteen: : Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Abdoulaye Konat, Hommage aux chasseurs du Mandé, 1996, installation view, Hübner areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–ongoing, installation view (detail), Hübner-Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Music Group: Lair, 2022, Hübner-Areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–ongoing, installation view (detail), Hübner-Areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–ongoing, installation view (detail), Hübner-Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–ongoing, Rampak Genteng, 2021, installation view, Hübner-Areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–ongoing, installation view (detail), Hübner-Areal, Kassel

documenta fifteen: Jatiwangi art Factory, Terracotta Embassy, 2021–ongoing, The Soil Bank, 2021-2022, installation view, Hübner-Areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling