Loud protest: Demonstrators hold banners in the auditorium of the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HfbK).
Image: dpa
The opening of the semester at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg is broken off under loud protest. Afisina and Hartono, members of the controversial Ruangrupa group, are taking up guest professorships there.
An the face of loud protests against the guest professorship of two members of the documenta Board of Trustees, which is controversial because of allegations of anti-Semitism, the opening of the semester at the University of Fine Arts (HFBK) in Hamburg has been cancelled. About ten of the more than 300 people present in the packed auditorium chanted “Anti-Semitism is not an opinion” and “throw the Nazis out” on Wednesday evening. The flag of Israel and a flag with the face of former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion were raised.
“I agree with you,” HFBK President Martin Köttering tried to appease the protesters. Anti-Semitism has no place at the university. “These two curators are not anti-Semites,” he said of Reza Afisina and Iswanto Hartono. When he left the microphone to the protesters, the gathering quickly broke up. The introduction of another new teacher could not take place.
Afisina and Hartono are members of the Indonesian documenta curatorial collective Ruangrupa. The 15th edition of the documenta had been overshadowed by ever new allegations of anti-Semitism. Already at the beginning of the year, the first voices were raised accusing Ruangrupa and some invited artists of being close to the anti-Israel boycott movement BDS. The Jewish community in Hamburg and Science Senator Katharina Fegebank (Greens) also criticized the visiting professorship.