Documenta - Directors

Directors

The first four documentas, organized by Arnold Bode, established the exhibition's international credentials. Since the fifth documenta (1972), a new artistic director has been named for each documenta exhibition by a committee of experts. Documenta VIII was put together in two years instead of the usual five. The original directors, Edy de Wilde and Harald Szeemann, were unable to get along and stepped down. They were replaced by Manfred Schneckenburger, Edward F. Fry, Wulf Herzogenrath, Armin Zweite, and Vittorio Fagone. Coosje van Bruggen helped select artists for documenta VII, the 1982 edition. Documenta IX's team of curators consisted of Jan Hoet, Piero Luigi Tazzi, Denys Zacharopoulos, and Bart de Baere. For documenta X Catherine David was chosen as the first woman and the first non-German speaker to hold the post. The first non-European director was Okwui Enwezor for documenta XI.