thumb|[[Art & Language, Index 01, documenta 5 1972]]
thumb|Katalog documenta 5 1972
documenta 5 was the fifth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 30 June and 8 October 1972 in Kassel, West Germany. The artistic director was Harald Szeemann. The title of the exhibition was: Befragung der Realität – Bildwelten heute / Questioning Reality – Pictorial worlds today.
Szeemann's curation is known for establishing a model for future art biennial events, with a central, thematic curatorial idea.
Participants
{| style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; background: #ffffff;" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%"
|-
| colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|A
|-
| width="20%"|Vito Acconci ||width="20%"| Richard Aeschlimann ||width="20%"| Vincenzo Agnetti ||width="20%"| Peter Alexander || width="20%"| John De Andrea || width="20%"|
|- style="background:#ededed;"
| Giovanni Anselmo || Anatol Herzfeld || Archigram || Siah Armajani || Charles Arnoldi ||
|-
|Art & Language || Richard Artschwager || Michael Asher || || ||
|-
| colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|B
|-
|John Baldessari || Robert Barry || Georg Baselitz || Lothar Baumgarten || Monika Baumgartl ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Bernd and Hilla Becher || Robert Bechtle || Gottfried Bechtold || Joseph Beuys || Natalie Bieser ||
|-
|Karl Oskar Blase || Mel Bochner || Alighiero Boetti || Marinus Boezem || Christian Boltanski ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
| Stan Brakhage || Claudio Bravo || George Brecht || KP Brehmer || Marcel Broodthaers ||
|-
|Stanley Brouwn || Günter Brus || Daniel Buren || Victor Burgin || Michael Buthe ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Eugenia Butler || James Lee Byars || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|C
|-
|Pier Paolo Calzolari || Luciano Castelli || Abraham David Christian|| Christo and Jeanne-Claude || Chuck Close ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Tony Conrad || Ron Cooper || William Copley || Joseph Cornell || Robert Cottingham ||
|-
|Paul Cotton || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|D
|-
|Hanne Darboven || Gino de Dominicis || Walter De Maria || Hermann Degkwitz || David Deutsch ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Jan Dibbets || Herbert Distel || Ottomar Domnick || Dore O. || Marcel Duchamp ||
|-
|John Dugger || Stephen Dwoskin || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|E
|-
|Don Eddy || Franz Eggenschwiler || Ger van Elk || Richard Estes ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|F
|-
|Luciano Fabro || Hans-Peter Feldmann || John C. Fernie || Robert Filliou || Jud Fine ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Joel Fisher || Barry Flanagan || Y. Fongi || Terry Fox || Hollis Frampton ||
|-
|Howard Fried || |Hamish Fulton || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|G
|-
|Barry Gerson || Franz Gertsch || Vittorio Gigliotti || Gilbert & George || Ralph Goings
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Hubertus Gojowczyk || Larry Gottheim || Dan Graham || Nancy Graves || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|H
|-
| Hans Haacke || Duane Hanson || Guy Harloff || Michael Harvey || Haus-Rucker-Co ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Birgit Hein & Wilhelm Hein || Auguste Herbin || Eva Hesse || Ernst Hiestand & Ursula Hiestand || Rebecca Horn ||
|-
| Jean-Olivier Hucleux || Douglas Huebler
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|I
|-
|Jörg Immendorff || Will Insley || Rolf Iseli || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|J
|-
|Ken Jacobs || Neil Jenney || Alfred Jensen || Jasper Johns || Joan Jonas ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|K
|-
|Howard Kanovitz || Edward Kienholz & Nancy Kienholz || Imi Knoebel || Christof Kohlhöfer || Jannis Kounellis ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Tom Kovachevich || Piotr Kowalski || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|L
|-
|David Lamelas || Owen Land || Jean Le Gac || Barry Le Va || Alfred Leslie ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Sol LeWitt || Richard Long || Ingeborg Lüscher || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|M
|-
|Inge Mahn || Robert Mangold || Brice Marden || Agnes Martin || Donatella Mazzoleni ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Étienne Martin || Richard McLean || David Medalla || Dieter Meier || Fernando Melani ||
|-
|Jim Melchert || Mario Merz || Gustav Metzger || Russ Meyer || Bernd Minnich ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Malcolm Morley || Ed Moses || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|N
|-
|Bruce Nauman || Werner Nekes || Hermann Nitsch || Andrew Noren || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|O
|-
|Claes Oldenburg || Yoko Ono || Dennis Oppenheim || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|P
|-
|Robin Page || Blinky Palermo || Panamarenko || Giulio Paolini || A. R. Penck ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Giuseppe Penone || Joachim Pfeufer || Elisabeth Pfund & Roger Pfund || Vettor Pisani || Sigmar Polke ||
|-
|Paolo Portoghesi || Stephen Posen || Rosa von Praunheim ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|R
|-
|Markus Raetz || Arnulf Rainer || Gerhard Richter || David Rimmer || Klaus Rinke ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Dorothea Rockburne || Peter Roehr || Aldo Loris Rossi || Ulrich Rückriem || Allen Ruppersberg ||
|-
|Edward Ruscha || Reiner Ruthenbeck || Robert Ryman || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|S
|-
|John Salt || Salvo || Lucas Samaras || Günter Sarée || Paul Sarkisian ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Jean-Frédéric Schnyder || Ben Schonzeit || Werner Schroeter || HA Schult || Armand Schulthess ||
|-
|Rudolf Schwarzkogler || Fritz Schwegler || Richard Serra || Paul Sharits || Alan Shields ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Katharina Sieverding || Robert Smithson || Michael Snow || Holly Solomon & Bert Spielvogel || Irm & Ed Sommer ||
|-
|Keith Sonnier || Klaus Staeck || Paul Staiger || Jorge Stever || Robert Strübin ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|T
|-
|Paul Thek || Wayne Thiebaud || André Thomkins || David Tremlett || Richard Tuttle ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|U
|-
|Bernd Upnmoor || || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|V
|-
|Ben Vautier || || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|W
|-
|Franz Erhard Walther || Robert Watts || William Wegman || Bertram Weigel || Lawrence Weiner ||
|- style="background:#ededed;"
|Roger Welch || John Wesley || Horace Clifford Westermann || Joyce Wieland || William T. Wiley ||
|-
|Charles Wilp || Rolf Winnewisser || Adolf Wölfli || Tom Wudl || Klaus Wyborny ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|Y
|-
|La Monte Young || Peter Young || || || ||
|-
|colspan="5" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000"|Z
|-
|Marian Zazeela || Gilberto Zorio || || || ||
|-
|}