BARCELONA, SPAIN.- Roger Buergel, director of Kassel Documenta 12, the most influential contemporary art contest -that will take place from mid June until late September, 2207- is in Barcelona, where he is organizing the “How do we wish to be governed?” exhibition that MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona) will present next September, and will involve several Poblenous buildings. Roger Buergel delineates some of the bases for the next edition of the Kassel contest.
-Have you already outlined your artistic project for the ext edition of the Documenta?
-I do have some ideas, but the truth is I don’t have anything concrete yet. I want to involve Kassel people and work with the city, something that the last two Documenta did not do.
-Will you appoint commissions?
-No, I will work directly with the artists, as well as with groups of artists, and initiatives and projects associated with the local environment of different countries.
-The X and XI Documenta, directed by Catherine David and Okwui Enwesor, stressed the analytical and political dimension of art. Do you plan to go down that road?
-I am mainly concerned with the aesthetical, which also implies the political. It will be a contemporary and multidisciplinary Documenta, but it will also include a 19th century artist. Works of young creators only make sense if historical references are included.
- I believe you want to open the contest to many unknown artists. Can you mention some of them?
-I cannot give you names yet. I will work with artists who more or less deal with a similar subject. This allows perceiving how Russian or Latin American artists, starting from their different art and traditions, reach very similar conclusions. I believe this is important for the public, because confronting them makes a better understanding is possible.
-What do you believe is the role of art in today’s world, convulsed and in crisis?
-The artist must define this. I will refer to exhibitions, whose objective, I believe, is to mobilize people, and this has two meanings: One, keep up protest and resistance already started, such as protests against the Iraq war or the “Prestige”, that emerge spontaneously and then collapse. And second, give people the feeling of actively participating in what happens in the world, that they are not useless.
-And the role of museums?
-I believe it is very important. It is hard to make history intelligible to the public. The problem, at least in Germanic countries, from which I come, is that museums do not have enough funds for long term projects. Art is immensely complicated…but Macba is different, here I feel right at home.
BUERGEL REMARKS…
ON THE WORLD OF TODAY…”The state of exception has become the rule, and power interferes too much in our life.”
LESS ARTISTS, BRIEF VIDEOS. I will reduce the number of performers and also the length of the videos, we need to think more about the audience.
A MORE HUMAN SCALE. I want to work with the town, make it my stage, and have smaller spaces.”
A LOOK AT THE PAST. “There will be a 19th century artist, the work of the young makes sense only with historical references.
