The Misguided Reasoning Behind Documenta’s “Artistic Freedom”

S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng, is a harrowing monument to the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Once a high school in Phnom Penh, it was converted under Pol Pot into a notorious torture center and extermination camp. Between 1975 and 1979, approximately 14,200 people met their deaths there. For the sake of grim bureaucracy, each victim, including men, women, and children, was photographed upon entry. This task fell to a 15-year-old Khmer Rouge member, Nhem Ein, who was sent to Shanghai to learn photography. He returned as the “photographer-in-chief,” documenting the faces of those doomed.

The transformation of these grim portraits into objects of art in exhibitions like the Museum of Modern Art and Arles Photography Festival stirred significant controversy. Critic Thierry de Duve, in “Art in the Face of Radical Evil,” questioned the appropriateness of giving artistic status to images originally intended for bureaucratic violence. His inquiry delved into whether “genocidal images” should be considered art. This debate has only become more complex over time, as the contexts of such exhibitions continue to evolve and provoke discussion about the role of art in portraying evil. The complexity arises from balancing the memorialization of victims with the ethical considerations of presenting their final moments as art.