a series of talks: the topics are general but the statements should always be personal
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Ruth Noack, curator documenta 12, Our journey towards documenta 12
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Georg Schöllhammer, director of the documenta 12 magazine, documenta 12 magazinesdocumenta is regarded as the most important exhibition of contemporary art, drawing attention from all over the world. It was initiated in 1955 by the artist and art educator, Arnold Bode, in Kassel. Every five years, a new director is chosen and the exhibition is reinvented, a concept which to date has been affirmed by the public’s interest. The number of visitors has continually risen. More than 650 thousand visitors came to Documenta11. Under continually changing directorship, and in the equally leisurely and inexorable rhythm of five years, documenta has advanced to become an authoritative worldwide seismograph of contemporary art. At documenta it becomes manifest whether art is succeeding in grasping the world in images and whether these images have validity for its public.
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Ruth Noack, b. 1964, art historian; two children. Studied art history, audio-visual media and feminist theory in the USA, UK, Germany and Austria. From 1990, regular work as a lecturer and writer in German-speaking countries. From 1992, exhibition organiser. From 2000, full-time teaching work (filmtheory) at Vienna University, the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, and Lüneburg University. From 2001, research project on the “Construction of Childhood”. 2002–2003 president of AICA (Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art) Austria. From 2005, curator documenta 12. Exhibitions (selected): Things we don’t understand (with Roger M. Buergel, Generali Foundation, Vienna, 2000), Organisational Form (with Roger M. Buergel, Galerija Skuc, Ljubljana 2002–03; Galerie der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig, and Kunstraum der Universität Lüneburg, 2003). The Government (with Roger M. Buergel,Kunstraum der Universität Lüneburg; MACBAMuseu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona;Miami Art Central; Secession, Vienna; Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2003–05).
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Georg Schöllhammer, b. 1958. Editor, author and curator. Lives and works in Vienna. Editor-in-chief and co-founder of springerin – Hefte für Gegenwartskunst (since 1995). 1988–1994 editor for visual arts at the daily Der Standard. 1992–1998 visiting professor for theory of contemporary art at the University of Art and Industrial Design, Linz. Numerous publications, exhibitions and projects on contemporary art and architecture. Director of documenta 12 magazines.
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