Curatorial Culture
Since the early 1990s, various significant biennial and triennial exhibitions and other art events held regularly around the world have begun to play a pivotal role in redefining contemporary art. The Documenta, held every five years in Kassel, Germany, is one of the most research-oriented super exhibitions that explore different approaches to understanding the development of contemporary art, which are different from the art-historical focus on artists and artworks of the past. The “documenta 5” (1972), curated by Harald Szeemann, established the legitimate status of the curator as author. “Documenta 11”(2002), directed by Okwui Enwezor with its four discursive platforms, took place in different locations worldwide before its physical exhibition in Kassel and formed a decentralized “post-colonial constellation” with the network connection of the five platforms. It focuses on discussing various issues other than art and opens up a global political perspective on art exhibitions.
Jiradej Meemala and Pornpilai Meemalai’s ‘The politics in Ramayana / Ramakien in documenta fifteen: Decoding the power of the Thai ruling class’ interprets critically different Thai versions of Ramakien developed from the Indian epic Ramayana and decodes its hierarchical cosmology, which is used as a political tool for fabricating Thailand’s collective imagination and social consciousness by the monarch and ruling elites. In addition, it takes Baan Noorg Art and Culture Cooperative’s collaborative project “Churning Milk: the Rituals of Things” as an example of elaborating within a new context the possibility of recreating political conditions in contemporary Thai society.
Hsiang-pin Wu’s ‘Malaise of Commons: On the Quality of the Relationships in documenta 15’ introduces the collective creation mode and global network of ruangrupa since its establishment. It applies the relationship structure and internal tension formed around friendship and community to speculate on the texture of relationships and the varieties of political energy. Additionally, it responds to anti-Semitic controversy with “the boomerang effect.”