“The artist and the curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition as soon as there is a ceasefire and an agreement has been reached on the release of the hostages.” On a white sheet of paper, the words were loud and clear: the Israeli pavilion – one of 88 country pavilions on display at the biennial prestigious art event in Venice – remains closed. It is therefore possible that the pavilion will remain closed for the entire Biennale, which lasts until the end of November.
It is a brave choice by Ruth Patir, the Israeli artist, who is not yet very well known internationally and had the opportunity to show her work internationally. “I am against a cultural boycott, but I have difficulty presenting a project that is about the fragility of lives at a time of unprecedented disrespect for them,” she said in the statement. As far as the artist and curators are concerned, art can wait, but people living in hell cannot wait.
As befits an international art event, political discussions always precede it, whether it is the Eurovision Song Contest or a Biennale. More than 19,000 people from the art world already had one open letter signed to ask the Biennale organization not to admit Israel this year. Russia's pavilion also remained closed two years ago when that country invaded Ukraine. South Africa was unwelcome due to the Apartheid regime between 1968 and 1993. The organization refused to exclude Israel, arguing that Russia itself had withdrawn from the previous edition.
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No cocoon
Russia is also absent this year: they have lent their pavilion to Bolivia. The fact that Russia is doing this is also political: the country has its eye on the raw material lithium in Bolivia. That's called the higher art of communication.
Can it never be done without hassle – isn't art standing on its own? The answer to that is: no. The new art in Venice does not offer a cocoon that can escape reality. Moreover, withdrawing from reality is also political, and a choice of unheard of luxury that is not available to many.
The Biennale had been political since its fourth edition in 1907: countries showed artists who represented a nationalist ideal, the Italian Futurists distributed their leaflets in 1909 with ideas to reform Italy, Hitler built the German pavilion in 1938, Israel immediately received a its own country pavilion in 1948, the student revolt in 1968 spread to the Biennale, and in 1973 the Biennale declared its solidarity with Chile, out of fear of the impending dictatorship. Two years ago, the Biennale supported Ukraine and featured art that depicted the war in several monumental images.
This year too, solidarity will continue. Not only are there protests and the paths between the pavilions are littered with leaflets stating 'No Death in Venice. No to the Genocide Pavilion', but there are also works that call for solidarity with Palestine or the foundation of the state of Palestine. Bouchra Khalili's video is an impressive one: she asked migrants to plot their flight on a map. One of them is a Palestinian who tried to get from Ramallah to Jerusalem before the war broke out. A simple fact, but extremely effective. Just like Ruth Patir's 'new work of art' actually.
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