At the invitation of the organizers of the Arnold Bode Prize, which is always awarded on the occasion of the documenta, I had the great pleasure of giving the laudation for the Kenyan artists' collective. The Wajukuu Art Project is a community-based initiative of artists from Mukuru, a slum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, which focuses primarily on working with young people. At documenta fifteen, installation works made of typical materials from the artists' everyday lives were on display – the sculpture made of worn knives and the corrugated iron cladding that provided access to the documenta hall remained in the memories of many.

The award ceremony took place on 2 May 2023 in Kassel and the five members of the collective who had traveled to receive the prize emphasized that the 10,000 EUR prize money would enable the implementation of a planned space and the fair payment of its employees.

During the laudation, it was important to me not only to introduce the Kassel cultural audience to the multi-faceted work of the collective, but also to show what an exciting direction the curators of the prize have taken, which is essential in order to remain as contemporary as documenta itself.