Profiling 4 decades of exhibition history

In the run-up to documenta X, the documenta Archiv set itself the exciting and long overdue task of compiling a wide ranging overview of the now more than 40 year tradition of the world's most important series of contemporary art exhibitions. The documenta Archiv in Kassel has been working together with the firm CIS GmbH in Würzburg on the completion of a CD-ROM about the history of the documenta since late 1995.

For the first time, both the general and professional user can experience the rich variety of each documenta through a multimedia review. Apart from the guided tour of each documenta, the intricately networked structure of the CD-ROM offers every user a personal access by specific questioning.

Each documenta is presented in picture, sound and text, through a representative selection of artists (approx. 370 in total). Approximately 1500 pictures of works and artist's portraits, numerous video sequences and statements by the artistic directors, as well as atmospheric impressions, bring the story of each documenta authentically to life.

Furthermore, all the artists involved in the Kassel exhibitions to date (approx. 2000) are contained in an accessible lexicon along with their profiles and documenta contributions. In addition to these artist-oriented entries, each document is characterised by means of exterior and interior photographs of the exhibition sites, original documentation and secondary material. The extensive representation of the nine exhibitions by means of source material, some of which previously unpublished, highlights the profile of each exhibition and facilitates a comparison of their different concepts and interpretational intentions.

The release of the CD-ROM "documenta^1-9 - Profiling 4 decades of exhibition history" provides a reference work that, for the first time, presents an overview of all the documenta exhibitions to date.

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