Documenta 16 selection committee loses two members amid Middle East conflict and anti-Semitism accusations

Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger and Ranjit Hoskoté have stepped down from the six-person committee tasked with choosing the curator for Documenta 16, which is scheduled for 2027. Ettinger, an artist from Israel, resigned on November 10, 2023, citing the Israel-Palestine conflict after her plea for a halt in the selection process was denied by Andreas Hoffmann on procedural grounds. Hoskoté, an Indian poet, followed suit after a November 9 article in Süddeutsche Zeitung branded him a BDS supporter for his signature on a 2019 open letter opposing an Israeli event. In his resignation letter, he dismissed the claims of anti-Semitism. The committee still includes Gong Yan, Simon Njami, Kathrin Rhomberg, and María Inés Rodríguez, underscoring the ongoing debates surrounding Documenta.