A petition to kick Israel out of the Venice Biennale art show because of the war in Gaza signed by more than 16,000 artists, curators and academics has been angrily dismissed as “shameful” by Italy’s arts minister.
Signed by art world luminaries including Jesse Darling, the British Turner prize winner, the petition claims: “The Biennale is platforming a genocidal apartheid state. No death in Venice. No business as usual.”
In response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas which killed 1,200 and took 200 hostage, Israel has launched an air and ground campaign in the Gaza strip, that has resulted in the death of about 30,000, according to Hamas-run health authorities.
Held since 1895 and considered the world’s top art event, the Venice Biennale, which starts in April, gives nations the chance to show off their best artists at national pavilions.
The petition, organised by a group calling itself the “Art Not Genocide Alliance”, said the Biennale had banned South Africa between 1968 and 1993 due to its apartheid regime and organisers had lashed out at Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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“The Biennale has been silent about Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians. We are appalled by this double standard. Israel’s assault on Gaza constitutes one of the most intense bombardments in history,” stated the petition, whose signatories included academics from the University of Oxford and the University of London.
The petition drew a furious response from Gennaro Sangiuliano, the Italian culture minister, who lambasted what he described as “a diktat from those who think they are the custodians of the truth, and who with anger and hatred try to threaten the freedom of thought and creative expression in a democratic nation like Italy”. He added: “The Biennale will always be a space of freedom, meeting and dialogue rather than censorship and intolerance. Culture is a bridge between people and nations, not a wall of division.”
In response, the organisers of the petition wrote: “Culture is not a ‘bridge between people and nations’ when one nation is involved in the elimination of another.”
Israel is due to be represented at the Biennale by Ruth Patir, an artist who has said that amid the violence in Gaza “there has to be a pocket for art, for free expression and creation”. She added:“Otherwise, we might as well contend that the extremists have won.”
The creators of the petition countered: “Art does not happen in a vacuum (let alone a ‘pocket’), and cannot transcend reality.” They added that the Israeli exhibit used motherhood as its theme, while “Israel has murdered more than 12,000 children and destroyed access to reproductive care and medical facilities”.
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The violence in Gaza has already sparked a row between Israel and the Eurovision Song Contest after organisers questioned the lyrics of its entry this year, October Rain by Eden Golan, which have been linked to the October 7 attacks.
The contest does not allow songs with political content, but President Herzog of Israel objected to concerns, stating: “I think it’s important for Israel to appear in Eurovision, and this is also a statement because there are haters who try to drive us off every stage.”
