documenta archiv

Zur documenta 6 im Jahr 1977 plante der documenta-Gründer Arnold Bode (1900–1977), Skulpturen im Oktogon unterhalb des Kasseler Herkules zu präsentieren und damit einen der prominentesten historischen Orte der Stadt in den Ausstellungskontext einzubeziehen. Das ambitionierte Vorhaben wurde jedoch nie realisiert. Erhalten geblieben ist eine Projektmappe, die als konzeptionelle Grundlage diente: Sie versammelt Planungsskizzen, räumliche Überlegungen, ein kuratorisches Konzept sowie historische und architektonische Hintergründe zum Oktogon. Die Titelseite der Mappe fungiert als programmatischer Auftakt zu einem nicht verwirklichten Ausstellungsprojekt und dokumentiert zugleich Bodes fortwährendes Interesse, zeitgenössische Kunst mit stadträumlichen, historischen und symbolisch aufgeladenen Architekturen zu verbinden. Als Zeugnis eines gescheiterten, aber gedanklich weitreichenden Projekts eröffnet die Mappe einen Einblick in die Entstehungsprozesse und Visionen hinter der documenta 6.

This leaflet for the first documenta in 1955 presents an abstracted map of Europe in which Kassel is marked as a fixed star and gravitational center within the constellation of capitals, metropolises, and art centers of Western Europe. The graphic design programmatically articulates the exhibition’s claim to position Kassel as a new point of reference for contemporary art.

Founded in 1964, the documenta Foundation pursued the goal of reproducing artworks donated by documenta participants as prints or limited editions in order to raise additional funds for the Kassel exhibition series on contemporary art. On the occasion of documenta 3 (1964) and documenta 4 (1968), around 90 editions by internationally renowned artists of the second half of the 20th century were created. The proceeds from these editions financed important parts of the documenta exhibitions until the 1970s.

The invitation card for the opening of the Lefebre Gallery in 1960 contains a handwritten note by John Lefebre in which he writes that documenta II, and thus its makers, were “to blame” for his giving up his profession as a filmmaker. Inspired by his visit to the exhibition, Lefebre founded the gallery in 1960 together with his wife Ljuba Lefebre, where he later exhibited works by documenta artists such as Horst Antes, Pierre Alechinsky, and Étienne-Martin.

Photograph for an invitation card to a student event at Kassel University (University of Kassel).

The photo shows Catherine David in a public appearance, presumably during a press conference or interview at documenta 10 (1997). The close-up shows her face with an attentive, concentrated gaze; microphones in the foreground suggest the media environment. The photograph captures David’s presence as artistic director and conveys the moment of intense attention in which she clearly positions herself in her public role as the defining voice of documenta.

From the 1950s onwards, the “Kassel School of Poster Art, Book and Magazine Graphics” had a formative influence on graphic design in the Federal Republic of Germany. Its representatives included Hans Leistikow, Karl Oskar Blase, Hans Hillmann, Jan Lenica, and Gunther Rambow, among others. The poster designed by Blase was created for the retrospective on the work of the design collective at the Kasseler Kunstverein (1982), which he himself curated.

The brochure is part of an unusual financing project by artists Geldmacher and Mariotti as part of documenta 4. After the installation incurred a deficit of DM 17,000, this publication and an object made from parts of the installation—including pieces of cable, lamps, and switchgear—were developed and sold to cover the costs; a process that was also discussed in DIE ZEIT (No. 29/1968) under the title “Geldmacher sucht Geldgeber” (Geldmacher seeks financial backer).

Ambitious exhibition projects in the field of “new art” were already underway in Kassel in the 1920s. An outstanding example is the series of “Große Kunstausstellung Kassel” (Great Art Exhibition Kassel) in the Orangery in Karlsaue Park. The fourth edition took place in 1929 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Kassel Art Academy. Among its co-organizers was Arnold Bode (1900–1977), the future founder of documenta, who was still young at the time. The publication is part of Bode’s personal library and is now in the art library of the documenta archiv.

The director and film producer Brigitte Kramer curated the film program for documenta 10 (1997) at the Bali Cinemas in the Kulturbahnhof. In addition, she accompanied the artistic director Catherine David on international research trips between Kassel, Paris, Venice, and São Paulo for more than two years. The systematic video documentation of the exhibition preparations ultimately resulted in the 48-minute film portrait “Reise zu den Bildern: Catherine David und die documenta X” (Journey to the Images: Catherine David and documenta X) (Jörg Jeshel/Theo Roos, ZDF, 1997). In 2024, Brigitte Kramer donated her documentary film material on more than 70 Betacam format cassettes to the documenta archiv.

Wilfried Bauer (1944–2005), a student and assistant of the photographic artist Robert Häusser (1924–2013), was one of Germany’s most important landscape and reportage photographers from the 1970s onwards. Commissioned work repeatedly took Wilfried Bauer to the documenta in Kassel. His documenta photographs from 1972 testify to his keen sense for the fleeting moments and eventful nature of the Kassel art exhibition, its artistic performances, and audience interactions. With more than 1,100 negatives and slide positives, they form the core of the photographic estate that the documenta archive was able to acquire in 2025. The selected image shows the activation of Franz Erhardt Walther’s “I. Werksatz” during documenta 5 (1972).

Zur documenta 5 im Jahr 1972 realisierte der viermalige documenta-Teilnehmer Claes Oldenburg (1929–2022) das legendäre „Maus Museum“ – einen begehbaren Museumsbau aus Holz in Form eines geometrischen Mäusekopfes, einem zentralen Motiv im Werk des Künstlers.Im Inneren dieses „Künstlermuseums“ wurde ein Sammelsurium verschiedenartiger Fundobjekte und Kuriositäten präsentiert: eine absurde, unhierarchische Sammlung, deren Zusammenstellung Maßstäbe und Bedeutungen relativiert, „High“ und „Low“ auf eine Ebene bringt und dazu einlädt, die Welt aus der Perspektive einer Maus zu betrachten. Das variierte Logo verschmilzt den muskulösen Herkules Farnese aus dem Kasseler Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe mit Oldenburgs Bildfindung – zu einer Apotheose der geometrischen Maus.

In September 1976, Arnold Bode sends “warm greetings from Lucca, Florence, Siena, Elba, and Venice” to his “dear comrade Councillor Wurbs,” head of the Kassel Office of Cultural Affairs. The dynamic calligraphy and the playful combination of handwritten text and an affixed postcard (the Rialto Bridge with gondolier) suggest the traveler’s holiday buoyancy. Yet, as was his habit, Bode keeps it brief and immediately turns to projects in Kassel: “The Biennale / was ‘not’ successful! / A long conversation about it! Yes—but when / and on Monday there will be a substantial paper / about our joint work—Octagon, etc.” This epistolary report to Ludolf Wurbs forms part of a private donation that the documenta archive was able to acquire in 2024.

At the suggestion of a Düsseldorf antiquarian and gallery owner, Heinz Günter Mebusch (1952–2001) began a photographic portrait series in 1978, which he continued consistently over many years: “Journey to the Planet Ars.”Using consistent parameters such as a fixed camera distance and strict centering, he created an extensive black-and-white collection of artist portraits—a cross-section of the national and international art scene since the late 1970s. Mebusch had the en-face photographs signed by the subjects and added his own signature on the back with his thumbprint. The selected motif shows the action artist Elke Koska.

Exhibition Poster: German-American Institute, Regensburg, 1958

Graphic designer Karl Oskar Blase (1925–2016) had a decisive influence on the visual identity of documenta for decades. Even before working in Kassel, he had already gained widespread recognition as a poster designer. Together with Felix Müller, he founded the müller-blase studio and, from 1952 onwards, was responsible for the graphic design of the Amerikahäuser (American Houses) and the US consulates general in West Germany. In the context of political rapprochement and democratization (“public diplomacy”), German-American cultural institutions in occupied Germany in the 1950s increasingly focused on (traveling) art and cultural exhibitions—such as Jazz in the USA (1958) and the worldwide touring exhibition The Family of Man (1955).

The artist Harry Kramer (1925–1997) gained international renown in the 1960s with his knotted wire sculptures. With these mechanically animated structures, he was represented at documenta 3 in 1964 in the “Light and Movement” section—together with the Düsseldorf group Zero, the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely, and other pioneers of kinetic art. The unusual red-painted object Lolli from Kramer’s artistic estate was created in 1968 under the influence of Pop Art and testifies to his experimental exploration of new artistic materials and production methods.

For documenta 5 in 1972, four-time documenta participant Claes Oldenburg (1929–2022) created the legendary “Mouse Museum”: a walk-in wooden museum building in the shape of a geometric mouse head. Inside this “artist museum,” a motley collection of various found objects and curiosities was presented: an absurd, non-hierarchical collection whose composition relativizes standards and meanings, brings “high” and “low” to the same level, and invites viewers to see the world from a mouse’s perspective. A separate catalog was published for the exhibition with a list of all the objects in the collection, and Kasper König was appointed as director. The catalog cover shows the museum building as a blueprint.

Flyer for the 1955 Federal Horticultural Show in Kassel with handwritten note “Announcement of Documenta I,” Design: Hans Hillmann

Floral attractions for the post-war economic miracle: The third Federal Horticultural Show of the post-war period took place from April to October 1955 in Kassel’s Karlsaue park. As a heavily promoted and high-profile “driving force” of reconstruction, this major event offered ideal conditions for the organizers of the first documenta. It was prepared by the Society for Western Art of the 20th Century, led by Arnold Bode, and opened on July 16, 1955, in the Fridericianum. The flyer for the Federal Horticultural Show, designed by Hans Hillmann, is entirely in keeping with the post-war belief in progress. Hillmann later taught as a professor of graphic design at the University of Kassel from 1961 to 1989.

Photo: Harry Kramer and students participating in a sack race at Auepark in Kassel

The dancer, actor, and trained hairdresser Harry Kramer (1925–1997) entered the world of fine art in the early 1950s as a self-taught artist. Experimental and unconventional throughout his life, his work oscillated between the visual and performing arts. A close affinity with theater, circus, fairgrounds, and spectacle runs like a thread through his work. A new chapter began in 1970 with his appointment as professor of sculpture at the University of Kassel. Gradually, he gave up his own sculptural work in favor of collaborative artistic projects with students: the “Atelier Kramer” was born. Unconventional teaching methods, the deliberate dissolution of genre boundaries, and collective actions characterized his two decades as a university teacher. Since 2006, Harry Kramer’s estate has been on permanent loan to the city of Kassel in the documenta archiv.