DUBAI: A performance artwork blocked from representing South Africa at the upcoming Venice Biennale over its allegedly “highly divisive” tribute to a Palestinian poet will now be shown at the global exhibition after all, The Guardian reported.
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South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s project, “Elegy,” will be presented as a video installation for three months from May 4 at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin in Venice’s Castello district, a venue near the Biennale’s main site but not officially part of the exhibition.
The South African pavilion will stay empty after the government declined to nominate a replacement for the show, which was abruptly cancelled in January.
Goliath said exhibiting the work in Venice was essential, warning that its cancellation set “a dangerous precedent,” coming “only as a result of (South African) culture minister Gayton McKenzie taking exception to certain aspects of the work and my refusal to change that.”
