The conflict over South Africa’s participation in the Venice Art Biennale gained momentum in January. Then Culture Minister Gayton Mckenzie announced he had withdrawn the invitation for artist Gabrielle Goliath to exhibit at the country’s pavilion. Several international media have reported on this. The decision prompted the selection committee behind Goliath’s selection to accuse the minister of censorship.
That’s what Gabrielle Goliath thinks The reason for the culture minister’s action is that her performance work “Elegy” contains allusions to the Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza in 2023. According to Artnews, Gayton Mckenzie described the work as “highly divisive”. The culture minister has previously commented on his attitude towards Israel, but rejects the accusation of political censorship. Instead, he tells The Daily Maverick that the Venice Biennale pavilion is there to “showcase South African artistic expression based on the South African experience.”
Because of the conflict, Gabrielle Goliath went to court last week to regain the right to represent her country at the historical art biennale. However, the court decided not to hear the case, a decision that Goliath will appeal. The result of the conflict is now that South Africa’s pavilion is empty during the Venice Biennale, which opens on May 9th.
In Sweden, artist Gabrielle Goliath has previously exhibited at the Gothenburg Art Gallery and Art Gallery C in Stockholm.
