exergue – on documenta 14

Dimitris Athiridis follows artistic director Adam Szymczyk and his curatorial team during the preparation of documenta 14, realising a film with an extraordinary 14-hour duration. Using footage shot over the course of two years, the film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s most important contemporary art exhibition. Titled Learning from Athens, the 2017 edition was one of the most controversial in documenta’s history. Szymczyk, alongside an extensive curatorial team that included Hila Peleg, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Pierre Bal-Blanc, and Paul B. Preciado, decided to stage the exhibition between Kassel, documenta’s original location, and Athens. This decision led to a financial deficit and a media scandal that drew significant attention to the exhibition. The curatorial approach was also criticized, seen as a form of instrumentalization of politically urgent issues, from the migrant crisis and neoliberalism to the global rise of far-right parties. Through its key figures and unprecedented access to meetings, studio visits, and press conferences, this 14-chapter film invites the audience to observe the workings of the institutional art world and to reflect on the role of contemporary art in a constantly evolving global landscape.