Close to 9,000 people call for Israel to be excluded from Venice Biennale art fair

Almost 9,000 people, including artists, curators and museum directors, have signed an online appeal calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s Venice Biennale art fair and accusing the country of committing “genocide” in Gaza through its response to the deadly October 7 Hamas terror onslaught.

“Any official representation of Israel on the international cultural stage is an endorsement of its policies and of the genocide in Gaza,” says the online statement by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) collective.

ANGA says the Venice Biennale had previously banned South Africa over its apartheid policy of white minority rule, and excluded Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano says the appeal was an “unacceptable, as well as shameful … diktat of those who believe they are the custodians of truth, and with arrogance and hatred, think they can threaten freedom of thought and creative expression.”

He says in a statement that Israel “not only has the right to express its art, but also the duty to bear witness to its people” after being attacked by “merciless terrorists.”

The Venice Biennale press office has not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Signatories of the appeal include Palestine Museum US director Faisal Saleh, activist US photographer Nan Goldin and British visual artist Jesse Darling, who won last year’s Turner Prize.