The management of the Venice Biennale does not respond to opposition from thousands of artists against Israel’s participation in the art event. The management announced this on Wednesday.
This week, more than 19,000 artists, curators and others from the art world signed an open letter who calls on the Biennale to ban Israel because of the war in Gaza. Among them is Hicham Khalidi, curator of the Dutch entry for the Biennale. When asked, he states that his position has no consequences for Dutch participation. “We are there as an artistic team and collective to enter into dialogue with the public.”
The open letter is an initiative of the action group Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA), established for this purpose. The management of the Biennale responded Wednesday that it “will not consider any petition or call for exclusion,” and that all countries that Italy recognizes may apply. The management referred not only to the participation of Israel, but also to that of Iran, against which a protest action also started this week. The 60th edition of the art festival in Venice starts on April 24 and lasts six months. A record number of 88 countries are participating.
Constant unrest
The protest against Israeli participation shows the ongoing unrest in the cultural sector over the war between Israel and Hamas. Last Saturday, several prize winners criticized Israel during the German film festival Berlinale, which upset the German government. In November there were also protests during the Amsterdam film festival IDFA.
The authors of the open letter to the management of the Venice Biennale first refer to the interim ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from January, which ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. The authors of the letter do not mention Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians on October 7 last year, which started the war.
They accuse the Biennale of not taking a position on the war, while the management will condemned “Russia’s unacceptable military aggression.” after the invasion of Ukraine. That year, Russia itself withdrew its entry; The country also decided not to participate in the upcoming edition.
Expression of frustration
Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano already showed up on Tuesday in strong terms in solidarity with Israel. He declared that Israel “has the right to express itself artistically,” and said the country had been “hit hard by merciless terrorists.”
Hicham Khalidi, the curator of the Dutch entry to the Venice Biennale, calls his signing “an expression of frustration against the destructive policies of an extreme right-wing, ethno-nationalist Israeli government.” This year’s entry is by artist Renzo Martens and the Congolese collective Catpc, about looted art and the position of plantation workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their work will be on display in the Dutch Rietveld Pavilion in Venice from April.
Khalidi and the artists will be there, Khalidi said. The story is “important to bring to a platform like the Venice Biennale.”
Several other participants in the upcoming edition of the art event also signed the letter, such as Finland, Lithuania and Nigeria. The Dutch artist Jonas Staal, who won the Prix de Rome in October, is also among the signatories.
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