Press Release

Independent Research Institute for Exhibition Studies in Kassel: Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude Appointed Founding Director of the documenta Institute

The state of Hesse, the city of Kassel, the University and Academy of Art Kassel as well as the documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH have appointed the renowned sociologist Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude as founding director of the documenta Institut. Bude's first tasks include the concretization of the content-related program and the development of the internal and external organizational structures of the documenta Institut, which is being founded by the four partners as an independent scientific research institution.

Bude stands for a science that is open to the diagnosis of time and has made a name for himself with contributions on the problems of social division, regional desertification and global social dislocation. In 2016, he was awarded the prize of the German Sociological Association for outstanding achievements in the field of the public effectiveness of sociology. He has been teaching macrosociology at the University of Kassel since 2000.

At his presentation in Kassel, Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude emphasized: “The documenta Institut's unique opportunity is that it understands the documenta as a model for the exhibition of contemporary art and in doing so, it is getting to grips with the phenomenon of the biennialization of the art field. In the interplay of archive, research and participation in urban society, a laboratory for the research into contemporaneity through the presentation of contemporary art. will emerge.”

Lord Mayor Christian Geselle: "With Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude, we have been able to win one of Germany's most distinguished sociologists as founding director of the documenta Institute. This is of great importance for the World Art Exhibition and our art and culture city of Kassel. We are pleased that he has been and remains connected to our city through his teaching activities for 20 years. I am excited to see what impulses Prof. Bude will give to the nascent institute."

The Hessian Minister for Science and Art, Angela Dorn: "I am extremely pleased that Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude has agreed to take over the management of the documenta Institute in its development phase. With him at the helm, the institute can become a place where an archive meets its art, where research is thought of and made as part of social discourse. I am looking forward to productive discussions and – together with the other partners – curious about the profile that the new founding director will give to the institute in the making."

The President of the University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey: "We recently defined the framework for the documenta Institut, and now the institut is also getting a face. I am extremely pleased that Prof. Bude is taking on this task. He is one of the most astute and accurate analysts of current affairs, the development of global society and its forms of expression in Germany and internationally. With him, the institute will have a founding director who will vigorously drive forward its development as an interdisciplinary research institute with international appeal. For the institute, for the university and for the city, this personnel change is an enormous gain."

Dr. Sabine Schormann, General Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH: "Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude brings excellent experience both in terms of content and structure in order to build up the institute together with all partners and align it for the future. I am very much looking forward to the cooperation and would also like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Kassel, which makes it possible for Prof. Bude to be available to the documenta Institute for the founding phase."

Images, as well as the CV and list of publications of Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude can be downloaded here: www.documenta.de/files/Bude.zip

About the documenta Institut

The documenta Institut is being build in cooperation between the State of Hesse, the City of Kassel, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and the University of Kassel with the Kunsthochschule, with financial support for the building project from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

The starting point for the documenta Institut is the holdings of the documenta archiv, which is being developed into a non-university research institute. The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to the archiving, documentation and scientific processing of text and image sources on modern and contemporary art, in particular on the documenta exhibitions that have taken place since 1955. In addition to the documenta documents, extensive press, image and audiovisual media collections, a unique art library and relevant bequests and estates form part of the holdings.

The documenta Institut will initially be founded under the umbrella of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and is intended to stimulate, conduct and further develop transdisciplinary research related to documenta and international exhibitions and to make it visible to the public.

Press Contact
Johanna Köhler
Head of Communication and Marketing
documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH
T +49 561 70727-2520
E presse@documenta.de