Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude appointed founding director of the documenta Institute

Bude stands for a science that is open to contemporary diagnostics and has emerged with contributions on the problems of social division, regional desolation, and global social dislocation. He was awarded the 2016 German Sociological Association Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Public Effectiveness in Sociology. He has taught macrosociology at the University of Kassel since 2000.

Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude emphasized at his presentation in Kassel: "The documenta Institute's unique opportunity lies in its understanding of the documenta as a model for the exhibition of contemporary art and thus coming to grips with the world-social phenomenon of the biennialization of the art field. In the interplay of archive, research and urban-social participation, a laboratory of research into contemporaneity through the presentation of contemporary art will emerge."

President of the University of Kassel Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey: "We recently set out the framework for the documenta Institute, and now the Institute is also getting a face. I am extremely pleased that Prof. Bude is taking on this task. He is one of the most perceptive and accurate analysts of contemporary events, the development of global society and its forms of expression, both in Germany and internationally. With him, the Institute will have a founding director who will vigorously advance its development as an interdisciplinary research institute with international appeal. For the institute, for the university and for the city, this personnel is an enormous gain."

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 for the documenta Institute. This is of great importance for the world art exhibition and our city of art and culture, Kassel. We are delighted that he has been and will continue to be associated with our city through his teaching activities for the past 20 years. I am excited to see what impulses Prof. Bude will give to the nascent institute."

The Hessian Minister for Science and the Arts Angela Dorn: "I am extremely pleased that Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude has agreed to take over the leadership of the documenta Institute in its start-up phase. With him at the helm, the Institute can become a place where an archive meets its art, where research is thought of and done 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."

General Director of documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH Dr. Sabine Schormann: "Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude brings excellent experience, both in terms of content and structure, to build up the Institute together with all partners and to orient it towards the future. I am very much looking forward to the cooperation and would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the University of Kassel, which has made it possible for Prof. Bude to be available to the documenta Institute for the founding phase."

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

About the documenta Institute

The documenta Institute is being established 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 will be further developed into a non-university research institute. The documenta archiv was founded in 1961 by Arnold Bode and is dedicated to archiving, documenting and scientifically processing text and image sources on modern and contemporary art, especially on the documenta exhibitions that have taken place since 1955. In addition to the documenta documents, extensive press, image, and audiovisual media collections, a singular art library, and relevant preliminary and posthumous bequests are part of the holdings.

The documenta Institute will initially be established under the umbrella of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH and will stimulate, conduct, and further develop research related to documenta and the international exhibition system in a transdisciplinary manner as well as make it publicly visible.

Press contact:

Johanna Köhler
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