Museum in the southwestern Saarland Cultural Heritage, German city of Saarbrücken canceled Berlin-based artist Candice Breitz’s 2024 exhibition over her condemnation of Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza.
Breitz, who grew up in Apartheid South Africa and is Jewish, reportedly learned that her show at the Saarland Museum’s Modern Gallery had been cut from the programming via an article in the local newspaper Saarbrücker Zeitung.
A press release dated November 24 from the Saarland Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages the Saarland Museum, cited “the media coverage of the artist in connection with her controversial statements in the context of Hamas’ war of aggression against the state of Israel” as its reason for cancelling Breitz’s show.
Known for her tongue-in-cheek political artwork, such as her current exhibition at Berlin’s Fotografiska “Whiteface” on everyday racism and white fragility, the artist planned to exhibit TLDR (2017), a video installation that highlights sex workers in Cape Town. The press release continued: “By cancelling the exhibition, the [museum] would like to make it clear that, against this background, it is not ready to offer a podium to artists who do not clearly position themselves against the terror of Hamas.”
Along with being Jewish herself, Breitz had, in fact, notably condemned Hamas’s attack last month, after receiving a bombardment of egregious, hateful messages. One such note called her a “Hamas-loving b*tch,” adding “You don’t deserve to be called a Jew,” while another stated, “You deserve to live with Nazi Krauts in Germany.” Her Instagram on Oct 31 responded: “It’s likewise possible to support the Palestinian struggle for basic rights and human dignity—including liberation from decades of oppression—while unequivocally condemning the horrific carnage exacted on 7 October, and the cruel stranglehold that Hamas exerts on Gazan civilians (to the advantage of Israel’s sadist leaders). Hamas is not Palestine.”
According to Monopol, Breitz claimed that although her exhibition had been in the works for three years, the Saarland Museum did not reach out to her before announcing it had ended their collaboration.
