"I am convinced that Szymczyk, a ground-breaking and idiosyncratic curator of art, will add new highlights to documenta." The national and international significance of the documenta exhibitions cannot be overestimated. The Lord Mayor of Kassel, Bertram Hilgen, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the organisation and Koyo Kouoh, speaker of the finding committee, presented the new Artistic Director in a press conference held at the documenta-Halle. Lord Mayor, Bertram Hilgen stated “After documenta is before documenta”. One year after the exceptionally successful DOCUMENTA (13) the next international exhibition of contemporary art is shifting into its realisation phase, with the appointment of the Artistic Director of documenta 14.
Today we are very proud to be able to introduce Adam Szymczyk, the new Artistic Director, who has been selected from a group of highly qualified candidates. With great excitement we look forward to the next documenta, with high expectations past exhibition have always been able to exceed. Documenta 14 has been under way for quite some time already; the Finding Commission’s meetings have been frequent and intense and it has set to work with great commitment to and respect for their task. Its eight members were selected in a unique process; they include experts from all over the world, bringing to the selection procedure their great variety of perspectives. Politics, City and State do not have a say in the appointment, placing the responsibility for this decision entirely on the Finding Commission. The first step of the procedure is to contact possible candidates, who have attracted the attention of the individual members with the excellence of their work. It is not possible for candidates to apply directly. Following preparatory meetings, six candidates were asked to submit written concepts, which were then discussed with the members of the Finding Commission. Out of this group of six, three candidates were invited to a second round of meetings. After thorough deliberation, the members of the Finding Commission have agreed on Adam Szymczyk, who will be introduced to the Supervisory Board today.”
Koyo Kouoh, Artistic Director of RAW MATERIAL COMPANY, Dakar, Senegal and speaker of the finding committee. said: "Adam Szymczyk stands for a close cooperation with artists. His projects are motivated by an insatiable curiosity, interlaced by integrity and research. I am convinced, that his documenta will add another chapter to our appreciation and our experience of contemporary art."
CV
Adam Szymczyk (born 1970 in Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland) is Director and Chief Curator at Kunsthalle Basel. He was a co-founder of the Foksal Gallery Foundation in Warsaw, at which he worked as Curator from 1997 till 2003, when he assumed his new post in Basel. At Kunsthalle Basel, he organized exhibitions including Piotr Uklanski: Earth, Wind and Fire (2004); Tomma Abts (2005); Gustav Metzger: In Memoriam and Lee Lozano: Win First Don't Last Win Last Don't Care (both 2006); Micol Assaël: Chizhevsky Lessons (2007); Danh Vo: Where the Lions Are (2009); Moyra Davey: Speaker Receiver (2010); Sung Hwan Kim: Line Wall (2011); Paul Sietsema and Adriana Lara: S.S.O.R. (both 2012), as well as group shows including Strange Comfort (Afforded by the Profession) (with Salvatore Lacagnina, 2010), How to Work/How to Work (More for) Less (both in 2011). In 2008 he co-curated with Elena Filipovic the 5th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art under the title When Things Cast No Shadow and in 2012 he curated Olinka, or Where Movement Is Created at Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. He is a Member of the Board of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. In 2011, he was recipient of the Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement at the Menil Foundation in Houston.
Documenta und Museum Fridericianum Veranstaltungs-GmbH
Friedrichsplatz 18
D-34117 Kassel
Germany
www.documenta.de
