Israeli exhibit won’t open till ceasefire
THE artist and curators representing Israel at this year’s Venice Biennale announced yesterday they will not open the Israeli pavilion exhibition until there is a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
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 Biennale contemporary art fair opens on Saturday.
Israel is among 88 national participants in the 60th Venice Biennale, which runs from April 20 to November 24. The exhibition in the Israeli pavilion had been titled Motherland by artist Ruth Patir.
Even before the preview, thousands of artists, curators and critics had signed an open letter calling on the Biennale to exclude the Israeli national pavilion from this year’s show to protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Italy’s culture minister had firmly backed Israel’s participation, and the fair was opening amid unusually heightened security.
Written in English, Patir’s announcement yesterday read: “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached.”
Adriano Pedrosa, the curator of the main show at the Biennale, praised Patir, saying: “It’s a very courageous decision. I think it’s a very wise decision as well” because it is “very difficult to present a work in this particular context”.
Palestinian artists are participating in collateral events in Venice and three Palestinian artists’ works are to appear in Pedrosa’s main show, titled Stranieri Ovunque ( Foreigners Everywhere).