Artist Gabrielle Goliath's attempt to reinstate cancelled Venice Biennale pavilion dismissed by court

"The South African artist Gabrielle Goliath's urgent application to overturn the cancellation of her planned Venice Biennale pavilion has been dismissed by the country's high court. Goliath and the curator Ingrid Masondo, who submitted the application with her, will be challenging the decision. The judge, Mamoloko Kubushi, has, meanwhile, ordered them to pay court costs to the respondents, including Gayton McKenzie, the country's sport, arts and culture minister."

"Goliath and Masondo were selected to represent South Africa at the 2026 Venice Biennale on 6 December last year, by a five-person selection committee composed of imminent members of the country's art community. The pair were to present a new iteration of Elegy- Goliath's decade-long project that has centred on femicide and the murder of LGBTQI+ people in South Africa."

"On 22 December, McKenzie-the leader of the right-wing Patriotic Alliance party who has been vocal in his support for Israel in recent years-wrote a letter to the organising committee in which he described the Abu Nada-related suite as "highly divisive in nature" and said it "relates to an ongoing international conflict that is widely polarising". McKenzie called for the section to be changed, and when the artist refused the minister pulled the plug on the work, in early January."

The high court dismissed Gabrielle Goliath's urgent application to overturn the cancellation of her planned Venice Biennale pavilion. Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo will challenge the ruling and were ordered to pay court costs to respondents including minister Gayton McKenzie. A five-person committee had selected them on 6 December to present an iteration of Elegy, a decade-long project on femicide and killings of LGBTQI+ people; the Venice version added the Ovaherero and Nama genocide and the death of Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. McKenzie called the Abu Nada-related suite "highly divisive in nature" and halted the work after Goliath refused to change it. An online hearing on 11 February heard arguments for urgent reinstatement; Goliath plans to appeal.

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