"Artist Gabrielle Goliath is reportedlyplanning to take legal action against South Africa's right-wing Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture after the agency dropped her Venice Biennale commission, which included references to Israel's genocide in Gaza. Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo, who were tapped by an independent committee in December to represent South Africa at the 2026 event, are preparing to file a court case against Gayton McKenzie, the country's minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Art Newspaper reported."
"Earlier this month, McKenzie, who also leads South Africa's right-wing Patriotic Alliance, scrapped Goliath and Monsondo's pavilion and performance series Elegy, expressing concerns that the pavilion would become a "proxy arena for geopolitical conflicts." Elegy would have addressed the "unfolding crisis of displacement and death in Gaza," among other forms of violence, a representative of Goliath's studio told Hyperallergic earlier this week."
"The performance also included references to the Israeli military's killing of the Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada and the femicide in South Africa. The legalfiling reportedly alleges that McKenzie acted unconstitutionally by throwing out the duo's pavilion plans and is set to be filed in the High Court in Pretoria, one of the country's three capital cities, on Thursday, January 22."
Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo were selected by an independent committee to represent South Africa at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a pavilion and performance series titled Elegy. Minister Gayton McKenzie canceled the commission, saying the pavilion could become a proxy arena for geopolitical conflicts. Elegy would have addressed displacement and deaths in Gaza, the Israeli military's killing of Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, and femicide in South Africa. The artists are preparing a High Court filing in Pretoria alleging the minister acted unconstitutionally by discarding their pavilion plans. The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has not responded to requests for comment.
Read at Hyperallergic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]