Artist representing Israel at Venice Biennale shuts down exhibit in protest of Gaza war
The artist representing Israel at the Venice Biennale, one of the world’s foremost contemporary art exhibitions, is shutting down her exhibit until a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages is reached.
Ruth Patir, whom Israel selected as its official representative at the Biennale, closed her country’s pavilion on Tuesday with her artwork fully installed inside. To the door, she affixed a note reading, “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached.”
Protests in the art world over Israel’s war with Hamas have become commonplace since October 7, with some artists unsuccessfully pushing for Israel’s exclusion from the Biennale because of the war. Patir’s action is unusual because she is an Israeli who is publicly rebuking her government on the world stage.
“I firmly object to [the] cultural boycott, but since I feel there are no right answer[s], and I can only do what I can with the space I have, I prefer to raise my voice with those I stand with in their scream,” Patir wrote on Instagram on Tuesday, explaining her decision.
“Ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”
Israel’s government did not know about Patir’s actions before she took them, according to The New York Times. She had been selected as Israel’s official Venice Biennale artist in September, prior to the October 7 Hamas massacre and the outbreak of war, and the country paid for half the costs of the pavilion.
Since the war began, Patir said she has regularly joined protests in Tel Aviv calling for a ceasefire deal that would release the estimated 130 hostages still being held by Hamas. The protests are also calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to
resign over the inability to free the captives.
Patir came to the decision to shut the pavilion alongside her Israeli curators, Tamar Margalit and Mira Lapidot, who are also supporting the action. A small video installation, connected
to Patir’s overall exhibit theme of maternal health, is visible from the pavilion door. The exhibit itself is called “(M)otherland” and was inspired by Patir’s own health struggles; after being diagnosed with a gene mutation that increases her risk
of breast and ovarian cancer, doctors advised her to freeze her eggs.
The artist and curators hope a ceasefire and hostage deal will be reached and they will be able to reopen their pavilion long before the scheduled end of
ISRAEL’S PARTICIPATION at the Biennale had come under fierce protest from a coalition of pro-Palestinian artists, who demanded that Venice shut it down in light of what they deemed a “genocide” in Gaza, a claim Israel rejects. The coalition, Art Not Genocide Alliance, has thousands of signatories including some artists with Jewish background, such as Nan Goldin, Adam Broomberg, and Eyal Sivan, as well as the official Biennale representatives of Chile, Finland, Nigeria, and around a dozen other countries.
The Venice Biennale’s organizers have said that any country with diplomatic relations with Italy is entitled to a pavilion. The event is meant to bring together the leading artists from nearly every country on Earth in one space.
On Instagram, the alliance took credit for Patir’s action, writing, “The artistic team of the Israeli pavilion has retreated as a direct consequence of widespread pressure and our collective campaign.” The coalition still had harsh words for Patir and her team, calling their shuttering of the pavilion “empty and opportunistic gestures timed for maximum press coverage.” The alliance criticized the fact that part of the exhibit was still visible from the pavilion door.
“NO WINDOW DISPLAY,” the team wrote on Instagram in all-caps, reiterating its strict demands: “An end to the genocide being perpertrated [sic] by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza, an end to the apartheid and an end to the occupation of Palestine.”
For her part, Patir, who was born in the United States and has studied in both Israel and New York City, is regretful about the current state of the exhibition.
“I hate it,” Patir told The New York Times about her decision. “But I think it’s important.”