It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Manfred Schneckenburger, who gave important impulses to world art exhibition documenta in Kassel with twice being involved. documenta 6 (1977) went down in history as the "media documenta": it followed the premise that art in the second half of the 1970s was largely oriented towards media criticism and attempted to reflect on its own conditions and locations through artistic processes. documenta 8 (1987) referred especially to a renewed focus by the artists on socially and politically relevant themes. Manfred Schneckenburger has died shortly after his 81st birthday in Cologne.