70 Years of documenta: Past, Present, and Future of the documenta Exhibitions

To mark the 70th anniversary of documenta, the entire year of 2025 will feature exhibitions, talks and lecture series, concerts and performances, book presentations, and social media campaigns, inviting the public to engage with the event’s dynamic history and its future as a globally unique exhibition series. A festive event on June 7 will commemorate the founding of documenta and inaugurate a city-wide intervention by documenta 12 artist Cosima von Bonin.

Sven Schoeller, Chairman of the documenta Supervisory Board and Mayor of Kassel, emphasizes the international significance of documenta and its positive energy impacting the local community: “documenta is not only one of the world’s most important exhibitions of contemporary art, but also plays a central role in the cohesion and cultural identity of the people of Kassel. As a recurring cultural highlight, it draws international attention and transforms Kassel into a center for artistic exchange. The anticipation for the upcoming documenta 16 in 2027 is especially great, as Naomi Beckwith, a curatorially promising and internationally well-connected personality, will take over the artistic direction.”

“The program accompanies this special anniversary of the documenta with excitement and variety. It reaches into the city’s society and highlights, through performances, discussion rounds, and interactive formats, how this unique art exhibition shapes the present – while also being influenced by global events. Ample space is given to critical perspectives. I look forward to an inspiring anniversary program for this cultural landmark of Hesse, which will attract great attention far beyond the borders of our federal state,” stated Minister of Art and Culture, Timon Gremmels.

Andreas Hoffmann, Managing Director of documenta, points to the immense responsibility and unique opportunity that comes with organizing this major and often controversial exhibition. “We seize this anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the past, present, and future of documenta – from all perspectives. At the center of this is a critical look back at key aspects of the exhibitions, such as the staging of individual artists’ personalities or the role of the curator as a discursive figure at the helm of documenta, as well as the ongoing search for new forms of curating, exhibiting, and an ever-evolving concept of what art could be or what it is expected to contribute to society. What is unique about documenta is that it continues in a critical discourse with its own history and artistic references, while simultaneously influencing the broader art and cultural scene in a way that calls for constant reexamination. Capturing this dynamic and transforming it into a productive vision for future documenta editions is the current great challenge we face, even in the 70th year of the exhibition’s history.”

The complete program can be found here