Departments

The Archives and Collections Department forms the core of the documenta archiv. It brings together all of the institution’s collecting priorities: records and media holdings spanning around seventy years of documenta history, including extensive photographic, audiovisual, and press collections. The archive also preserves curatorial, artistic, and publishing-related estates and papers of key figures associated with documenta, as well as person- and theme-based special collections. The holdings are complemented by planning documents and photographic documentation relating to the exhibition activities of the Kunsthalle Fridericianum.

Among the department’s central responsibilities are the preservation, care, and cataloguing of both analogue and digital holdings. The strategic development of the collections is grounded in contemporary preservation concepts, up-to-date digitisation methods, and archival standards in description and metadata. Particular challenges arise in collection storage management and long-term preservation in the context of climatic change.

In addition, we are expanding our online research services in keeping with a service-oriented approach to access and use. Responding to new and experimental artistic and exhibition formats that have accompanied documenta for decades, we employ dynamic classification practices and archival logics. Underpinning this work is the shared goal of keeping the archival holdings—both physical and digital—active and accessible.

Contact:
Saskia Mattern
+49 561 70727-3102
saskia.mattern@documenta.de

Research and scholarship are among our core tasks.

The documenta archiv conducts critical foundational research on the history of documenta, its curatorial and organizational practices, and the actors involved—also in exchange with national and international research and cultural institutions. One current focus lies on the early documenta exhibitions, networks within the art world after 1945, and a well-grounded media history of documenta. Further areas of research address the underrepresentation of women artists and the artistic-curatorial interactions between Eastern Europe and the Kassel documenta. In addition, the documenta archiv engages with questions from information and archival science as well as documentary studies, such as the preservation of fluid and performative art forms.

Scholarly communication is a central concern. In addition to conferences, workshops, and lectures, we organize exhibitions that present the results of our daily work. Our aim is to engage broad audiences with our work. Furthermore, the documenta archiv maintains a publication series in which, from the perspectives of different disciplines, the publications address key subjects associated with documenta.

Our remit also includes the scholarly advising of external researchers, students, and other interested parties. Dialogue with the international research community, with artists, curators, Kassel’s urban community, and former documenta staff members is an important component of our work.

Since 2020, the documenta archiv, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, has awarded regular fellowships that enable scholars, curators, and artists to immerse themselves in the archival holdings for six months.

Contacts:

• Birgitta Coers
  +49 561 70727-3103
  birgitta.coers@documenta.de

• Martin Groh
  +49 561 70727-3107
  martin.groh@documenta.de

The library of the documenta archiv is among the most significant specialist art libraries in Germany, distinguished by its unique focus on classical modernism and international contemporary art. At the heart of the collection are the documenta exhibitions since 1955, their artistic and curatorial protagonists, contemporary exhibition practices, and comparable exhibition formats and biennials worldwide. The collection currently comprises around 300,000 volumes and approximately 60 active periodicals, with information on more than 70,000 artists.

In addition to artist monographs, the library holds publications on epochs, genres, styles, collections, and modern art theory. The holdings are complemented by rare items—such as book objects and artists’ books—as well as so-called grey literature: materials published outside the commercial book trade and therefore of particular value to researchers.

An active exchange of publications with national and international institutions ensures access to current and otherwise difficult-to-obtain materials. The collection is continually enriched by private donations and pre-mortem and posthumous estates. Many of these treasures originate from personal libraries—for example, those of former documenta figures such as Arnold Bode or Herbert von Buttlar. In addition, preparatory literature from the changing curatorial teams of documenta and the Fridericianum is regularly incorporated into the holdings.

Contact:
Marlene Theinhardt
+49 561 70727-3120
marlene.theinhardt@documenta.de

With the digital shift and the growing diversity of artistic forms of expression, the tasks of the documenta archive are also changing. Since 2018, conservation has played a key role in the long-term material preservation of documenta’s unique cultural heritage.

We specialize in the care and conservation of paper-based and media objects and address the full spectrum of the archival holdings. This includes artworks and everyday objects from past decades as well as records, photographs, audiovisual media, and contemporary digital-born materials.

Drawing on expertise, care, and a keen sensitivity to the specific qualities of each material, the department also develops conservation concepts for the storage and packaging of archival materials and is responsible for climate monitoring and integrated pest management (IPM) in the repositories and storage facilities. In addition, it provides professional support for digitization projects, oversees the institution’s loan operations, and undertakes many further tasks behind the scenes to safeguard the collection.

Contacts:

• Arlett Sauermann
  +49 561 70727-3114
  arlett.sauermann@documenta.de

• Melissa Köhler
  +49 561 70727-3117
  melissa.koehler@documenta.de

As a creative moving-image editorial unit, the Documentation and Production Department forms a central interface between the documenta archive, the archive’s own exhibition and event projects, communications, the documenta exhibition, and the Fridericianum.

Here, documentary practice, technical production, and artistic mediation converge. The focus lies on the conception and realization of a wide range of film formats—including documentary recordings and short films, interviews, making-ofs, and experimental media productions—often drawing directly on the archive’s holdings.

We oversee and coordinate the entire production process, from conceptual planning through camera work and editing to final post-production. In addition, particular attention is given to the systematic archiving, cataloguing, and provision of the resulting content—for internal workflows as well as for external inquiries and public dissemination.

Contact:
Michael Gärtner
+49 561 70727-3111
michael.gaertner@documenta.de