According to a report by the New York Times, Ruth Patir, an artist selected to represent Israel in the 2024 Venice Biennale, has stated that she will not unveil her exhibition in the country’s national pavillion until a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached between Israel and Hamas. The press previews for the Biennale began this morning, and the festival’s public opening is scheduled for April 20.
“I hate it, but I think it’s important,” Patir told the Times. Patir, along with the Pavillion’s two curators Tamar Margalit and Mira Lapidot, did not notify the Israeli government beforehand about their decision to not open the pavillion. The pavillion, titled “(M) motherland,” was supposed to showcase various new works, including computer-generated imagery. However, one of the works will still be visible from a window.
According to the Times, a sign on the Israeli Pavillion in the Giardini reads, “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavillion will open the exhibition when a cease-fire and hostage release agreement is reached.”
In February, an open letter was signed by thousands of artists who called on the Biennale to cancel Israel’s participation at the event. They claimed that “the Biennale is platforming a genocidal apartheid state.” Some of the artists taking part in the main exhibition this year were among the signatories. However, Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano responded by confirming that Israel would be participating as planned, stating that countries officially recognized by Italy are permitted to mount national pavillions. Recently, Russia withdrew its national participation from the 2022 Biennale due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. As a result, Russia will not be participating in the 2024 Biennale either. to mount its 2022 pavillion after co-curator Maira Lanko drove most of the work by artist Pavlo Makov that was to be included out of the country amid the early days of the war. The 2024 Ukrainian Pavillion will also proceed, with several artists reflecting on the many realities and perspectives of Ukrainians in and out of the country.
Palestine has never mounted a pavillion at the Venice Biennale, though the Palestine Museum US staged an official collateral event in 2022; an official collateral event will also be staged. The main exhibition of the 2024 Biennale, curated by MASP artistic director Adriano Pedrosa, includes two Palestinian artists among the 331 set to participate: Dana Awartani and Samia Halaby.
Francesco Bonami, the curator of the 2003 Biennale, had proposed including a Palestinian Pavillion during that year’s festival, but he was immediately met with claims of antisemitism and the country did not mount a presentation, though Bonami included a work by artist-couple Palestinian Sandi Hilal and Italian Alessandro Petti in the main exhibition.
