In an open letter, the anonymous collective Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) advocates banning Israel from taking part in this year’s Venice Biennale, which opens to the public on 20 April. “No Genocide Pavilion at the Venice Biennale,” ANGA states in the letter sent out Monday.
ANGA refers to the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is currently investigating whether Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The court ordered Israel to take urgent measures to prevent genocide, yet the attack on Gaza continues, the letter points out.
As of publication, the letter has 17,108 signatures. Many Nordic artists, curators, and cultural workers have signed. Among the Norwegian signatories are Geir Haraldseth, curator at the National Museum, Trine Otte Bak Nielsen, curator at the Munch Museum, and Pedro Gómez-Egaña, an artist and professor at the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo. The international names include: Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbe Museum in the Netherlands; art historian and critic Claire Bishop; artist Nan Goldin; and the British-Palestinian artist Rosalind Nashashibi.
Ane Hjort Guttu, professor at the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo, is among the artists who have signed. She told Kunstkritikk that she supports a cultural, political, and economic boycott of Israel “as long as the country occupies Palestine, and certainly as long as they commit genocide.” Guttu is concerned that protests like this will hardly stop Israel.
“But I still believe everyone must take their stand within their own field and with whatever means they have at their disposal. Russia was banned from the Venice Biennale after the invasion of Ukraine, and it is quite unfathomable to me why the same principles should not apply to Israel,” she said.
Danish artist Sidsel Meineche Hansen, who was featured in the Venice Biennale in 2022, has also signed the petition. She told Kunstkritikk that she agrees with the letter’s statement that any work of art that officially represents the state of Israel is an endorsement of the Israeli state’s policies.
“The art field is part of the cultural industry, and there is a need for a total boycott of the Israeli state in order to stop the occupation of Palestine and the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Meineche Hansen said.
Swedish artist Lina Selander exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2015. She told Kunstkritikk that she agrees with what is written in the letter and that she has little to add. She does, however, believe that such a letter can contribute to change.
“I think it is important that we show our opposition to the terrible things Israel is doing, that we do not accept business as usual. Especially in light of how governments and official representatives choose to act and not act, in contrast to the widespread popular resistance to this cruel mass murder that just goes on and on,” Selander said.
ANGA mentions two other cases where the Venice Biennale has taken a clear position on political issues and banned nations from participating. South Africa was banned between 1968 and 1993 due to its apartheid laws. In addition, Russian participants, as well as any institution and person with ties to the Russian government, have been banned since 2022. In the letter, ANGA points out that the Venice Biennale’s management has spoken out clearly against Russia’s war in Ukraine, but has been silent about Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. The Biennale has not responded to Kunstkritikk’s inquiries.
Moderna Museet in Stockholm is responsible for this year’s Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Director Gitte Ørskou said the museum obviously supports everyone’s natural right to sign the letter, but declined to answer whether the museum supports Israel’s participation in the biennale. She believes that this question must be addressed to the biennale management.
“We commissioners – Moderna Museet, Kiasma, and OCA – are responsible for the Nordic Pavilion. In this role, we neither can nor want to work to exclude other countries. As I said, this is a matter for the biennale’s management,” Ørskou told Kunstkritikk.
