8 thousand artists demand the exclusion of Israel from the Venice Biennale: “No to the Genocide Pavilion”

Thousands of artists, as well as cultural institutions and organizations, are calling for Israel to be excluded from the upcoming Venice Art Biennale because of the “atrocities” it is allegedly committing in Gaza. The sensational request is contained in a letter sent to the Biennale Foundation which, according to Ansa, has already collected more than 8 thousand signatures. “As the art world prepares to visit the nation-state diorama in the Gardens, we say it is unacceptable to host a state engaged in continued atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza. No to the Genocide Pavilion at the Biennale”, write the promoters of the exclusion of the artistic representation of the Jewish State. The Biennale will open in less than two months: it will be held in the Lagoon from April 20 to November 24. Similar mobilization of artists, in the musical field, is underway at the European level to demand the exclusion of Israel from Eurovision, the continental song festival scheduled for Malmö from May 7 to 11, 2024.

“Like apartheid South Africa and Putin’s Russia”

According to the promoters of the appeal, the request to exclude a country from consideration due to the commission of “atrocities” has precedents. From 1950 to 1968, for example, “due to widespread global condemnation and calls for boycotts, apartheid South Africa was discouraged from exhibiting and sidelined when awarding spaces at the Biennale. And it was only readmitted after the abolition of the apartheid regime in 1993.” While in 2022, insurers recall, the Biennale “condemned Russia's unacceptable military aggression, which included the declaration to refuse any form of collaboration with those who carried out or supported such a serious act of aggression. Precedents comparable to what Israel is currently doing accuse thousands of artists whose names are not yet known. The Biennale remains silent today on Israel's “atrocities” against the Palestinians, they accuse. “We are shocked by this double standard. Any work officially representing the State of Israel constitutes an endorsement of its genocidal policies. There is no freedom of expression for Palestinian poets, artists and writers who have been murdered, silenced, imprisoned and tortured. »

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