Glossary
Many terms from different languages, as well as familiar terms used in new contexts, make up the vocabulary of documenta fifteen.
Building social relationships and questioning power dynamics is essential to the lumbung practice. This also includes expanding the way language is used and understanding it as a tool to develop new ideas and perspectives. Furthermore, documenta fifteen stands for polyphony, and using terms from different languages is an integral part of that.
Aotearoa is a Māori term for the island nation of New Zealand, where the arts collective and lumbung member FAFSWAG was founded in 2013. FAFSWAG aims to challenge the lack of representation of Queer and Indigenous people in the creative industries by evading heteronormativity and establishing multicultural identities and an interdisciplinary practice.
A vessel for sharing money and non-monetary resources such as skills, space, time, and energy. A shared budget to be governed collectively by a group of artists (mini-majelis).
It is like a totem pole, something highly symbolic that holds the community together.
documenta commission is an international Advisory Board that acted as a Finding Committee for the appointment of documenta’s artistic director and accompanies them in the further project process. In February 2019, ruangrupa was selected as artistic director of documenta fifteen.
Ekosistem is the Indonesian term for ecosystem, developed in reference to, but not synonymous with, the ecological concept of ecosystem. “Ekosistem” or “ecosystem” describes collaborative network structures through which knowledge, resources, ideas, and programs are shared and linked.
Harvest means the documentation of meetings, which is prepared by harvesters as overviews, texts, sketches or drawings and enables the traceability of the meeting.
The harvesters listen and reflect. In exaggerated, humorous or poetic form, they document the process from their individual perspective and by means of their own artistic practices.
lumbung is the concrete practice of ruangrupa for documenta fifteen and beyond.
Translated from Indonesian, it means “rice barn.” In Indonesian rural communities, the surplus harvest is stored in communal rice barns and distributed for the benefit of the community according to jointly defined criteria. This principle stands for the living and working practice of ruangrupa and is used for an interdisciplinary and collaborative work on artistic projects.
lumbung artists are artists and collectives invited by ruangrupa and the Artistic Team to realize contributions for documenta fifteen following the lumbung practice. In close cooperation with ruangrupa, the Artistic Team and the 14 lumbung members they create an interdisciplinary platform of contemporary art.
To this end, the lumbung artists are organized into groups, so-called mini majelis in which they exchange ideas and support each other. They develop concrete works for documenta fifteen while the contributions from the lumbung members remain a permanent part of the lumbung inter-local network.
Just like the lumbung members, the lumbung artists invite further participants to join them in creating their artistic works for documenta fifteen in Kassel.
lumbung calling is the first event format of the documenta fifteen accompanying program, called Meydan. The series of talks with different guests is dedicated to lumbung-values and will take place every first Saturday of the month from April to October 2021 and can be followed live on documenta fifteen’s YouTube channel.
See the recording of the event here.
lumbung inter-lokal refers to the international network of lumbung members. The term inter-lokal describes the interweaving of their local practices as well as their international distribution through the network.
lumbung konteks is a seven-part series of online conversations taking place once every month from December 2021 until June 2022.
Each session invites two documenta fifteen lumbung members to introduce their practices and wider ecosystems and to expand and reflect on each other’s work. Through sharing stories, songs, and tools for living and working in community, lumbung members discuss the differences and affinities between their specific contexts. lumbung konteks addresses the importance of the localities within which we all work, the conditions that inform and ground our practices, and the ways we can learn from each other’s models of education, ecology, and economy.
See the recording of the event here.
lumbung members are community-oriented collectives, organizations and institutions invited by ruangrupa and the Artistic Team to further develop the idea and practice of lumbung. Together they form an interdisciplinary platform of contemporary art that will have an impact beyond the 2022 exhibition. The international network of the 14 lumbung members is referred to as the lumbung inter-lokal.
Beyond the joint collaboration on fundamental ideas and issues related to documenta fifteen, the lumbung members – just like the lumbung artists – present their own projects within the exhibition. They also invite further participants to join them in creating their artistic works. The contributions from the lumbung members remain a permanent part of the lumbung inter-lokal network while the lumbung artists develop concrete works for documenta fifteen in Kassel.
lumbung values are the basic principles of lumbung and of the practice of lumbung members. These include generosity, humor, local anchoring, independence, regeneration, transparency and frugality.
majelis is a term for a gathering or meeting. In person or digitally, regular majelis are an important tool of the lumbung network to exchange ideas and projects. mini-majelis are smaller gatherings, while majelis akbar (mega majelis) is a larger gathering between lumbung members, lumbung artists and other participants of documenta fifteen.
Meydan in Urdu, Ukrainian, Fārsi, and Arabic refers to an accessible common space in a city, such as a square or public park, where people come together.
After the Opening Week of documenta fifteen, from June 18 to June 25, 2022, the three Meydan Weekends happen on July 8–10, August 12–14, and September 9–11, 2022. The program was developed together with the Kassel ekosistem.
Detailed information on the lumbung program, including dates, can be found in the calendar.
nongkrong is an Indonesian slang term from Jakarta and means “hanging out together”. Casual conversation and togetherness, but also the sharing of time, ideas or food are anchored in this term. For ruangrupa, but also for the majelis of the lumbung members, nongkrong is an important practice.
ruangrupa is the Artistic Direction of documenta fifteen. Founded in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2000, the collective’s work is based on a holistic social, spatial, and personal practice strongly connected to Indonesian culture, in which friendship, solidarity, sustainability, and community are central.
“ruangrupa” translated freely means “art space” or “spatial form.”
ruruHaus is a neologism composed of the Indonesian “ruru” (=space) and the German word “Haus” (=house).
ruruHaus, a former sports arena in downtown Kassel, is part of ruangrupa’s curatorial practice and provides spaces for collective practice, ideas, exchange and collaborations. In addition, the space is intended to function as the city’s centrally located living room, inviting creative gathering and lingering (nongkrong).
lumbung is based on friendship. In Indonesian sobat means friend or companion. The plural form is sobat-sobat.
As friends, the art mediators sobat-sobat accompany visitors on guided tours through the documenta fifteen exhibition. These exhibition tours are called Walks and Stories and form part of lumbung knowledge. As an active part of lumbung knowledge visitors and art mediators alike create encounters and access through their practice of storytelling.
Translation is a poetic way of bringing a project already existing in touch with more potential users. An alternative logic to commissioning.
lumbung members and artists were asked to keep doing what they are doing while translating their practice to Kassel and back.
warung kopi is a street café in Indonesia which organically provides services as social interaction centers. As warm and cozy social spaces, warung kopis are open for everyone to find company, talk, write, read, entertain each other, or waste time. Different people come together there. They drink coffee, discuss different topics, and exchange ideas. The focus is on communication with each other.
warung kopi is also a documenta fifteen format to host casual conversations in a relaxed setting with and between journalists and members of the Artistic Team, lumbung members, and other people involved.