ruruHaus

ruruHaus is the heart of documenta fifteen. Here you can experience the practice of lumbung. Even before the opening, a constant coming and going reigned in the building, a sum of many conversations, Zoom meetings, cooking sessions, and brainstorming bouts. ruruHaus is the “living room” of documenta fifteen. Its practice, thought up by ruangrupa, comes together and can be experienced here. Because of the political and societal situation in Indonesia, in the early 2000s, ruangrupa transformed private living rooms into public spaces so that it could dedicate itself to the practice of art there. In Kassel, they are continuing that history by other means—and of course they need more than one living room for that. They are using the department store at the corner of Treppenstrasse and Obere Königsstrasse that opened in 1950, has a view of the Fridericianum and Friedrichsplatz, and most recently housed a sports arena but has been vacant since 2018.

At ruruHaus, visitors can familiarize themselves with how ruangrupa works and how it understands art. It pays to learn a few new terms: For example, “lumbung” is the Indonesian word for a rice barn for communal use in which the excess harvest is stored for the benefit of the community. It also defines the artistic practice of ruangrupa, which is based on the principle of collectivity, on the idea of shared resources. That is why they bring together local ekosistems in ruruHaus that are formed of people, materials, and other living organisms. They include, for example, artistic, sociocultural, and environmental initiatives or other networks. One central element of this is nongkrong (Indonesian for “hanging out”, meaning unforced togetherness and socializing). It stands for openness, common ground, and the exchange of resources.

Thus, ruruHaus is a place on the move. It is a meeting place with a welcome area, a café, and an arena that offers the opportunity for gatherings, for example at symposia, workshops, or discussions. The documenta ticket office and two bookshops are also located here.

You can find the event program at ruruHaus here (in German).

The Arts Collaboratory, a network of twenty-five organizations from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, is running a newspaper, a collective workshop space, and a newsroom at ruruHaus. The ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics, from Berlin, Germany, will house a project about bees here. Through an installation, the collective ook_ connects its own ook_visitorZentrum at Weserstrasse 26 with the official visitor center of documenta fifteen. In addition, lumbung Gallery is located in ruruHaus.