From Hamburg to Kassel: Andreas Hoffmann, who has been managing director of the Bucerius Kunst Forum since 2007, will take up his new position as managing director of the documenta on May 1, 2023. The experienced cultural manager is to consolidate the world art exhibition after the anti-Semitism scandals of 2022.
After the resignation of Director General Sabine Schormann, who was hopelessly overwhelmed with overcoming the crisis, a few weeks after the opening of documenta fifteen, two interim directors, Alexander Farenholtz and Ferdinand von Saint André, had taken office.
From 2004 to 2006 Hoffmann was managing director of the Friends of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. In this position, he gained management experience by establishing a young circle of friends, among other things. He was then able to bring this knowledge to bear when he was asked to take on the job of managing director of the Bucerius Kunst Forum at Hamburg’s Rathausmarkt.
The enthusiastic archaeologist gradually became a man of numbers and tables. With great success and changing artistic directors at his side, he ran the house supported by the Zeit-Foundation Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius, which has specialized in exhibitions in a manageable format that attract the public since its foundation.
Andreas Hoffmann got involved here with great commitment: in fundraising, in personnel issues, in marketing, but also in the conception of innovative event and communication formats. Readings, lecture series, concerts and even yoga sessions complement the classic exhibition program in the “Buci”, as the people of Hamburg affectionately call it. However, Hoffmann was also responsible for the expansion of the exhibition center in 2008 and the realization of the new building, which opened in 2019 a few houses further on Alter Wall.
The cultural manager likes to see himself “in the classic role of the enabler who has the back of others”. As a professor at the Institute for Culture and Media Management, he also conveys this credo to his students at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater, where he has been offering courses on the basics of museum management since 2011, but also on future-oriented fields such as audience development and community building.
Now he faces new challenges in Kassel. Some might object that a classic archaeologist is unsuitable to direct the fortunes of the decidedly contemporary documenta. However, a new artistic director, to be appointed by spring 2024, will be responsible for positioning the content of the next documenta.
And in Moritz Wesseler, whose contract runs until 2027, the Museum Fridericianum has an energetic director whose non-conformist program has attracted international attention. Andreas Hoffmann, who has gained a solid reputation in the Hamburg art scene through his balanced demeanor coupled with a high level of professionalism, is likely to return to Kassel in his own role of the facilitator who confidently keeps an eye on the whole thing.
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