Naomi Beckwith to Lead Scandal-Ridden Documenta 16
By Annette Meier
Portrait of NAOMI BECKWITH. Courtesy the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Amid ongoing controversy surrounding Documenta, Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, has been appointed as the artistic director of its 16th edition, slated to open in 2027. She is the first Black woman and second US-born curator to helm the major art exhibition, which takes place every five years in Kassel, central Germany.
A native Chicagoan, Beckwith joined the Guggenheim three years ago, having previously held curatorial positions at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA). Her exhibitions and publications often examine the influence of Black identity and culture on multidisciplinary practices within global contemporary art.
Beckwith was unanimously selected by Documenta 16’s new finding committee, which was entirely restructured five months ago after the first team collectively withdrew in November last year. The original members’ departure followed the resignation of Mumbai-based writer and curator Ranjit Hoskoté, who faced slanderous allegations of antisemitism by the German media and government for signing a 2019 protest petition that equated Zionism with Hindutva (Hindu nationalism).
The German art event has consistently landed in hot water in recent years. In 2022, ruangrupa, the Indonesian collective who were the artistic directors of Documenta 15, faced antisemitism allegations after another Indonesian collective Taring Padi displayed a large mural featuring antisemitic caricatures. Tensions were high even before the festival began, as an exhibition space reserved for the Palestinian art group The Question of Funding was vandalized. Following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel last year, Documenta’s administration condemned ruangrupa for “liking” pro-Palestine posts on social media, a response predating the continuous erosion of artistic freedoms in Germany after the national parliament passed an antisemitism bill last month.
Beckwith has promised a more hands-on curatorial approach for the forthcoming edition. Speaking with The New York Times, Beckwith said: “Every exhibition is a deep collaborative practice for me with artists, so there are no surprises.” In a separate statement, she described her new role as an “honor of a lifetime,” adding that she is “humbled by the breadth of this responsibility.” Her appointment was further welcomed by Hessian minister Timon Gremmels who, in a press release, noted: “With the implemented reform of Documenta, the city and state have laid a good foundation for the future of the world art show. We have struck a good balance between freedom of art and discourse and protection against antisemitism and discrimination.”
Documenta 16 is scheduled to launch on June 12, 2027, and run for its customary 100 days.
Annette Meier is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.
