The selection committee for the artistic direction of documenta 16, consisting of four women and two men internationally active curators\u2014Yilmaz Dziewior, Sergio Edelsztein, N’Gon\u00e9 Fall<\/a>, Gridthiya Gaweewong, Mami Kataoka, and Yasmil Raymond \u2013 only had just under six months to decide who would be in charge of the world’s largest art show. They had only been tasked with finding an artistic director in July 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThe high-caliber selection committee has made a first-class choice,\u201d says Lord Mayor Sven Schoeller. \u201cThere were quite a few people who had already pronounced Documenta dead last year. But we have always believed in documenta.\u201d Art Minister Timon Gremmels (SPD) emphasized that it was \u201ca load off his mind today\u201d. The documenta is an institution of great international appeal, but also of great responsibility.”<\/p>\n Beckwith is only the second US curator of documenta, after the Italian-American Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in 2012, and the first Black woman curator to lead the international exhibition.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a shock, a surprise, but also a great joy\u201d, Beckwith said at the Kassel press conference. \u201cI have looked at every Documenta since documenta 12. I was obsessed with the concept of documenta from the moment I was introduced to it. There is no other project in the world that allows such deep thought, deep research, and close work with artists. I am here as someone who is eager to learn about Kassel, eager to work with the team, eager to think about global practices from a city that is really quite global in and of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/griotmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/griotmag-naomi-beckwith-documenta-16-1024x576.jpg\")