May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Organizers of Documenta, the exhibition of international art held every five years in Kassel, Germany, are trying a type of marketing that's usually used to promote new fashion or reality TV. They are keeping most of the names of the 109 artists secret until the week of the June 16 opening.

Yet after speaking to a number of artists and dealers, I found that the list includes Mary Kelly, Louise Lawler, Zoe Leonard, John McCracken and Martha Rosler from the U.S.

Also taking part are Beijing's Ai Weiwei, Irish multimedia artist James Coleman, Austrian conceptual artist Peter Friedl and Sydney-based Malaysian installation artist Simryn Gill, who will display truck-engine parts made from coconut wood. (Spanish celebrity chef Ferran Adria will be cooking something up as well, according to organizers.)

Secrecy wasn't always a goal at Documenta; artists for the 2002 show were disclosed earlier.

``We want to direct as much attention as possible from the list to the artworks themselves,'' said Catrin Seefranz, Documenta 12's director of communications, in an e-mail.

How can there be artworks to talk about without artists? The attempt has turned this Documenta into an art-world parlor game, with some dealers and critics trading guesses -- and others dismissing artistic director Roger Buergel's decision as merely an effort to create buzz.

Lawler, Leonard and Rosler will show substantial works, as will sculptor McCracken and Kelly -- who is restaging her ``Love Songs'' exhibition (shown at New York's Postmasters gallery in 2005) and working on a new commission.

Three-Month Show

About 650,000 visitors, more than triple Kassel's population, are expected during Documenta's three-month summer run. Half of the show's budget of 19 million euros ($25.7 million) comes from the city, the state of Hesse and Germany's Federal Cultural Foundation. The rest comes from sponsors, donors and ticket sales.

Documenta was started in 1955 to demonstrate that art transcends nationalism, a potent goal in postwar Germany. Collectors as well as other art-worlders visit (Documenta is not a selling exhibition), but the many installations and videos on display have less traction in today's heated market than paintings and sculptures for sale at the same time at ArtBasel (June 13-17).

This year's Documenta also coincides with the Venice Biennale (June 10-Nov. 21) and the Muenster Sculpture Projects, staged every 10 years.

Art, Not Parties

Artists, collectors and critics flock to Venice for the parties as much as the art, but Kassel is serious.

``There is always a kind of educational information apparatus that doesn't exist so much in Venice,'' said Magdalena Sawon of Postmasters. While she expects this Documenta to be as high-minded as its predecessors, she doesn't know what or whom to expect: ``It's like traveling to a question mark.''

New York dealer Tracy Williams, who represents Leonard and Gill, says that Documenta ``was the art-world equivalent of the Olympics'' through most of the '90s. ``Kassel is not the most exciting town, so it's really making that pilgrimage to look at art.''

``Documenta is always of great interest to the art community,'' Rosler said. The artist, who was in Documenta 7 in 1982 and also is included in this year's Muenster Sculpture Projects, will install two large works: ``The Bowery in Two Inadequate Descriptive Systems,'' her 1974-75 images of the rough-and-tumble New York avenue paired with words, and new photographs of urban gardens.

Architecture and global commerce are emerging as two themes of the show. Ai is bringing 1,001 Chinese citizens to Kassel, housing and feeding them, while Leonard will display 420 of her photographs taken in the past nine years of storefronts from many nations.

Documenta 12 opens June 16 and is on view through Sept. 23. Information: http://www.documenta.de.

Muenster Sculpture Projects runs June 16 through Sept. 30 in Muenster, Germany. Information: http://www.skulptur- projekte.de.

The Venice Biennale is from June 10 through Nov. 21. Information: http://www.labiennale.org.

ArtBasel is June 13-17 in Basel, Switzerland. Information: http://www.artbasel.com.

(Carly Berwick is an art critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Carly Berwick at cberwick@gmail.com.

Last Updated: May 17, 2007 00:15 EDT