Wikipedia
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural Show) which took place in Kassel at that time, and was an attempt to bring Germany up to speed with modern art, both banishing and repressing the cultural darkness of Nazism. This first documenta featured many artists who are generally considered to have had a significant influence on modern art (such as Picasso and Kandinsky). The more recent documentas feature art from all continents; nonetheless most of it is site-specific.
Every documenta is limited to 100 days of exhibition, which is why it is often referred to as the "museum of 100 days". Documenta is not a selling exhibition. It often coincides with three other major art world events: the Venice Biennale, Art Basel and Skulptur Projekte Münster.
2012's edition has been organized around a central node, or theme, that being the trans-Atlantic melding of two distinct individuals who first encountered each other in the "money-soaked deserts of the United Arab Emirates". As an organizing principle it is simultaneously a commentary on the romantic potentials of globalization and also a critique of how digital platforms can complicate or interrogate the nature of such relationships. Curatorial agents refer to the concept as possessing a "fricative potential for productive awkwardness," wherein a twosome is formed for the purposes of future exploration.
The dOCUMENTA (13) was the thirteenth edition of the quinquennial contemporary art exhibition documenta. It took place between 9 June until 16 September 2012 in Kassel. The exhibition is held under the theme Collapse and Recovery. Exhibits can be seen in several venues in the city, among others in the Fridericianum museum, in the Orangerie (Kassel) and in the Karlsaue, a large urban park.
Its artistic director is the curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev who was chief curator of the Castello di Rivoli - Museo d'Arte Contemporanea in Turin and, in 2008, also head of the Biennale of Sydney.