The Venice Biennale will ignore the artists’ petition to exclude Israel from the exhibition – News

Israel at the 2022 Venice Biennale

Stefano Mazzola/Getty Images

Organizers of the Venice Biennale and the Minister of Culture of Italy Gennaro Sangiuliano stated that Israel will take part in the exhibition despite the mass appeals of the artists.

This was reported by The New York Times.

On Wednesday, February 28, representatives of the biennale said that any country recognized by Italy can apply to participate. They also added that the exhibition “will not take into account any petitions or calls for the exclusion” of countries.

“Not only does Israel have the right to express its art, but it also has a duty to bear witness to its people at a time when it has been mercilessly attacked by ruthless terrorists.“, said the Minister of Culture.

He noted that the biennale will always be a space of freedom, meetings and dialogue, and not “a space of censorship and intolerance.”

Previously, the artists united in the Alliance under the name “Art is not genocide” and signed an open letter calling on the Venice Biennale to ban “any official representation of Israel” from one of the art world’s largest events.

In the message, the activists talked about “atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”, but did not mention the terrorist acts of Hamas in any way. They also called the venue of the Israeli exhibition a “pavilion of genocide”.

In total, more than 17 thousand artists joined the signing. Among them is an American photographer Nan Goldin and Jesse Darling, a recent winner of the British Turner Prize. The document was also signed by representatives of the pavilions of Albania, Cyprus, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania and other countries.

Israel will be represented at this year’s exhibition by a female artist Ruth Pater — her exhibition in the Israeli pavilion called “Motherland” reflects on the topic of the artist’s relationship with motherhood. She and the curators of the pavilion did not comment on the situation with the open letter.

In October 2023, as informs Public, participants of the Israel pavilion said they were “stunned and horrified” by the Hamas attack.

“Our overwhelming sense of sorrow is compounded by deep concern about the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and extends to the tragic loss of life there, and what lies ahead.” noted Ruth Pater.

At the same time, artists said that art should be a place for self-expression and creativity. The Alliance “Art Against Genocide” criticized this opinion and stated, Palestinian artists do not have freedom of expression and that Israeli artists are setting “yet another double standard.”

Politics at the world’s largest international exhibition

As noted The New York Times, during the nearly 130-year history of the Venice Biennale, the country, which is experiencing political upheaval, has occasionally not participated in the exhibition. For example, Russia has not participated in the event since 2022 due to a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine.

However, the organizers of the biennale had no influence on the exclusion of the representatives of Russia, according to them, it was the decision of the Russian government. Although representatives of the exhibition said that they would not allow “persons connected with the Russian government” to participate, in 2024 some countries are inviting “good Russians”.

Austria will be represented at the 60th Venice Biennale by the Russian artist Anna Ermolaeva with the exhibition project “Swan Lake Rehearsal”. Ukrainian ballerina and choreographer Oksana Sergeeva took part in the preparation for the exhibition. She used to run a ballet school in Cherkasy, but after the full-scale invasion began in 2022, she moved to Austria.

The curators of the national pavilion of Ukraine at the Biennale 2024 were Maksym Horbatskyi and Victoria Bavykina (Ukrainian Photography NGO) and their project “Weaving Nets”.

The exhibition of the Ukrainian pavilion is inspired by the practice of collective weaving of camouflage nets and is dedicated to support and cooperation between people. With the help of joint actions, Ukrainian society opposes Russian aggression. “Weaving of Nets” presents the works of Ukrainian artists – Katya Buchatska, Andriy Dostlev and Liya Dostlev, Daniil Revkovskyi and Andriy Rachynskyi, and Oleksandr Burlaka.

The Venice Biennale will take place from April 20 to November 24, 2024.