On 29 October 2026, Documenta announced four new members of the team for Documenta Sixteen in Kassel. Artist and composer Raven Chacon will join as ‘Curator-at-Large’; Osei Bonsu, Timea Junghaus and Noam Segal are joining as ‘Curatorial Advisors’. The exhibition is scheduled to run from 12 June to 19 September 2027. The announcement says the group will work with artistic director Naomi Beckwith and her core team to shape the programme and artistic vision. It does not specify who will decide what.
The new titles denote different roles, but do not yet establish a publicly clear allocation of authority. Chacon takes on an overarching curatorial position; the other three are described as curatorial advisers. Whether this means defined thematic areas, regular involvement in decisions or primarily an exchange of expertise remains open in the announcement. Nor does it mention voting rights or a procedure for resolving disputed programming issues. ‘Helping to shape’ is thus the documented description of their work together – not an explanation of who ultimately decides.
A core team, four additional perspectives
Beckwith was appointed artistic director in late 2024. In August 2025, she introduced her core team: Carla Acevedo-Yates, Romi Crawford, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro and Xiaoyu Weng. According to the announcement at the time, this team was to develop the exhibition, publications and programme with Beckwith. The new announcement expands this arrangement rather than replacing it. It describes a broader field of activity without explaining its internal hierarchy afresh.
The selection brings together different areas of expertise: Chacon works as a composer and visual artist; Bonsu is a curator of international art at Tate Modern; Junghaus’s interests include contemporary art by Sinti and Roma; Segal’s work sits at the intersection of art, technology and society. Documenta also highlights expertise in music, performance and new technologies. This can be read as a broadening of perspectives. It does not, however, automatically follow that an advisory role carries the same decision-making power as the artistic director or core team.
Artistic freedom, organisational responsibility
At Documenta, the question of authority also has an institutional dimension. The exhibition is run by the non-profit company documenta und Museum Fridericianum. An organisational report and resolutions from 2024 explicitly address the separation between executive management and artistic direction: under these provisions, executive management is responsible for the organisational and financial framework; artistic work is to be kept distinct from this, and its freedom protected. This guiding principle explains why shaping the artistic programme cannot simply be equated with overall responsibility for the company.
It does not, however, answer every question within the curatorial team. The published information identifies Beckwith as artistic director and names the core team and the new advisers. The announcements reviewed contain no detailed allocation of who invites artists, takes responsibility for individual parts of the programme or has the final say in disputes. Documenta’s current team overview does not yet list the four new roles either.
What the announcement leaves open
For now, the expansion should therefore be understood as a broadening of expertise, not as a documented shift in leadership. According to Documenta, the four new members will work with Beckwith and the core team on the programme and artistic vision. How this collaboration translates into specific responsibilities remains an open question. For an internationally prominent exhibition in particular, this is more than an organisational footnote: it makes a difference whether new voices offer advice, take responsibility for their own areas or participate in binding decisions. What has been publicly stated so far is their involvement – not the precise extent of their powers.
Original reviewed by the editors · 1 November 2026
