Documenta at the End of the 20th and 21st Centuries: Redeveloping the Role of Art in a Global Context

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to consider the features of the international art exhibition documenta at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, which secured for it the status of a controversial international art project of an unusual format that influenced the rethinking of the role of contemporary art in the global context. The research methodology involved the use of descriptive, systemic-structural, and analytical methods to identify changes in the organisation of international exhibition projects documenta at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The cultural-historical approach made it possible to consider exhibition projects in a broad socio-political context. Scientific novelty. For the first time in Ukrainian art history, the role and significance of the international exhibition documenta in the transformation of the discourse on contemporary art was examined. Conclusions. Unlike the Venice Biennale, the hundred-day exhibition of contemporary art documenta, which takes place every five years since its founding in 1955 focused not on national pavilions, but on a more general presentation that tried to recreate the landscape of what was happening on a global artistic level. Although its initiator, sculptor A. Bode, initially conceived of an ephemeral space dedicated to the cultural heritage of Germany, destroyed by the Nazis, each subsequent documenta had a profound impact on the art world. In addition, documenta is considered to be the most controversial event. The exhibition acquired the corresponding characteristic at the turn of the century due to the influence of several circumstances of both organisational and artistic presentational direction. For the first time, an event of this scale in Europe was headed by a woman, K. David (documenta X), and not a European, but an American of Nigerian origin, O. Enwezor (documenta XI). In addition, both events were accused of being not art exhibitions in the traditional sense, but rather platforms for various socio-political and academic discussions. This reinterpretation of the very concept of exhibitions transformed them into platforms for interdisciplinary research, which significantly influenced contemporary art, turning it into a means for critical reflection on contemporary realities and the struggle for social justice. Thus, documenta became a truly international intellectual forum for artists, writers and thinkers, challenging traditional artistic practice, as well as the entire field of art and culture.