South Africa’s Venice pavilion left empty after Gabrielle Goliath’s ‘highly divisive’ tribute to Palestinian poet blocked
A piece of performance art that was blocked from representing South Africa at the upcoming Venice Biennale over its supposedly “highly divisive” tribute to a Palestinian poet will go on display at the world’s largest art exhibition after all.
South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s project, Elegy, will be shown for three months from 4 May as a video installation at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin church in the Castello district, a venue in the vicinity of the main site that is not part of the Biennale.
The South African pavilion, meanwhile, will remain empty as the country’s government declined to nominate a replacement for the show that was abruptly cancelled in January.
Goliath said showing her work in Venice was vital because its cancellation had set “a dangerous precedent”, coming “only as a result of [South African] culture minister McKenzie taking exception to certain aspects of the work and my refusal to change that”.
