In 2002, a children's and youth network was established in Kassel on the occasion of documenta 11 with the aim of representing and supporting educational work with children and youth in the city on a broader basis. Participants were motivated by the desire to promote connections with the international art exhibition. Network representatives have thus worked within the documenta 12 advisory board from the beginning. This network will use the coming documenta 12 to continue its existing activities and to mesh them with the documenta's social objectives as an educational institution. 

Back in 2006, the Kassel children's and youth network carried out a range of activities under the motto “Around the World – Worlds in a Suitcase”. Using the suitcase metaphor, the key questions for documenta 12, which focussed on “bare existence” and “education”, were addressed together with children and young people. The suitcases were filled with these young people's viewpoints, experiences and ideas: rights, needs, concepts and demands for participation, but also their own social position were explored through the medium of the suitcase. The results of this confrontation were presented to the public and form the basis for further treatment of the documenta leitmotifs by children and young people in 2007.

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