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Naomi Beckwith is the first black woman to curate Documenta in its 69-year history, as well as the second American curator to lead the exhibition after Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, who was in charge of the 2012 edition. Her appointment comes after the resignation of the entire selection committee, embroiled in a series of controversies linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the election of a new committee to organise the 2027 edition.
After the accusations of anti-Semitism, Documenta may have to deal with some political interference and limit its boldness in the selection of artists and themes. Although Beckwith’s choice, on closer inspection, is already a bold move, or at least a breakthrough, and not only because of his African-American origins. Indeed, although he served on the curatorial committee for an edition of the SITElines biennial in SITE Santa Fe and on the jury for the 2015 Venice Biennale awards, his CV lacks a major international biennial, usually a prerequisite for attaining the curatorship of Documenta.
His museum experience, on the other hand, is very rich. Before joining the Guggenheim in 2021, Beckwith held curatorial positions at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Now based in New York, he is working on a Rashid Johnson retrospective opening next year at the Guggenheim. His other notable exhibitions include Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s solo show at the Studio Museum in 2011 and a Howardena Pindell retrospective held at the MCA Chicago in 2018.
“It is the honour of a lifetime to have been chosen as artistic director for documenta 16,” Beckwith said in a statement.“Documenta is an institution that belongs to the world as much as it belongs to Kassel, as well as an institution that is in perpetual dialogue with history as much as it is a barometer of art and culture in the immediate present. I am honoured by this responsibility and equally excited to share my research and ideas with this historic institution‘.
Beckwith’s appointment marks the first time ever that both Documenta and the Venice Biennale, the two major biennial-style art exhibitions in the world, are curated by black women. Koyo Kouoh, a Cameroon-born curator who currently directs the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, was in fact recently appointed curator of the Venice Biennale 2026.
