How did I not know the documenta founders were members of Nazi organizations?

I mean, the German Pavillion in Venice (rebuilt by Ernst Haiger's design in 1938) has been deconstructed and reconstructed and poked and probed over the years through various artistic interventions ( all very civilized, of course).

KONTEXT IST KÖNIG AUSSER DER DEUTSCHE The discussion around documenta and its founders past is ongoing with this very useful and informative Hito Steyerl article in yesterday's Zeit ( June 3rd), in German. Google translating a small abstract here:
The insights into the past of Werner Haftmann, the academic pacesetter of the first three documentas and SA SA-Partisanenjäger, were shocking but not surprising. The details in the documentation of the Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM), which has done an excellent job of researching the documenta and its makers in recent years, are drastic. According to an Italian newspaper report, Haftmann sticks his finger into the wounds of a tortured Italian partisan on the hospital bed. It is not known whether his team was also responsible for the torture. A few years later, Haftmann developed the academic branding for the documenta. Documenta stood for the West, modernity and world art as such. An interesting curatorial principle: the exhibition became an instrument of obfuscation. For example the fact that many of the founders were members of relevant Nazi organisations. At the same time, the "world art" jargon was also a rather brazen blueprint for West German soft-power post-war imperialism. If you couldn't conquer the world with tanks - maybe with art?

In more local news, the 12th Berlin Biennale is opening this week with the title Still Present! You can visit the exhibition for free on June 10, from 7–10 pm at all six venues. After that tickets cost 18euro for the whole duration of the show.

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