Can anti-Semitism be art?

On the scandal at the Documenta art festival

A bitter dispute over anti-Semitism, racism and freedom of expression has been bubbling away all through the summer in the normally sleepy German town of Kassel. In the past few days the pot has boiled over.

Every five years Kassel awakes to become the centre of the art world for 100 days, when it puts on Documenta, the world's largest art festival.

Dating back to the 1950s, the festival was a conscious effort to make a break with the Nazis’ censorship of avant garde art.

Eye-catching installations from festivals past have included a life-sized Athenian parthenon made of books. But, despite its reputation for daring, the festival was ultimately a place where collectors and gallerists came to spot the latest trends. Lead billing could send an artist’s reputation into the stratosphere.

For the 15th iteration though, the organisers decided to break with convention completely. Instead of asking an established western artist to curate, they recruited an Indonesian collective to show off work f…