Venice, Italy — The artist and curators representing Israel at this year’s Venice Biennale announced Tuesday that they will not open the exhibition at the Israeli pavilion until there is a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement to release hostages.
Their decision was posted on a sign in the window of the Israeli national pavilion on the first day of media previews, just days before the opening of the Biennale’s contemporary art fair on Saturday.
Israel is among the 88 national participants in the 60th Venice Biennale, which takes place from April 20 to November. 24. The exhibition at the Israel Pavilion was titled “Homeland” by artist Ruth Patir.
There was no immediate comment from Biennale organizers.
Even before the preview, thousands of artists, curators and critics signed an open letter asking the Biennale to exclude the Israeli national pavilion from this year’s exhibition to protest Israel’s war in Gaza. Those who oppose Israel’s presence also promised to protest there.
The Italian Minister of Culture firmly supported Israel’s participation and the fair opened in a context of unusually reinforced security.
Written in English, Patir’s announcement on Tuesday said: “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached.” Two Italian soldiers stood guard nearby.
Adriano Pedrosa, Brazilian curator of the Biennale’s main exhibition, praised Patir’s choice.
“It’s a very courageous decision,” Pedrosa told the Associated Press. “I think it is also a very good decision” because it is “very difficult to present a work in this particular context”.
Venice’s national pavilions are independent of the main exhibition, and each nation decides its own exhibition, which may or may not contribute to the curator’s vision.
Palestinian artists participate in collateral events in Venice and three works by Palestinian artists will appear in Pedrosa’s main exhibition, entitled “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere”, which features a preponderance of artists from the global south.
Pedrosa, artistic director of Brazil’s São Paulo Museum of Art, said one of the Palestinian artists, New York-based Khaled Jarrar, was not physically in Venice because he was unable to obtain a visa.
The war broke out after Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out a cross-border attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 33,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials, causing widespread devastation. The United Nations has warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza.
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