Yet more details have emerged surrounding the abrupt cancelation of Gabrielle Goliath’s planned Venice Biennale pavilion for South Africa, with the Daily Maverick publishing a report about the allegations that a foreign nation tried to interfere in her exhibition.
Gayton McKenzie, the South African culture minister, controversially said in a statement that he canceled Goliath’s pavilion not because it was to deal with Israel’s war in Gaza, but because another country had attempted to purchase the work being shown there at the end of the show’s run. His statement appeared to conflict with reporting from a previous Daily Maverick article that stated that McKenzie had privately labeled Goliath’s pavilion “polarizing.”
After McKenzie’s statement, the Israeli outlet Ynetnews ran unconfirmed claims that the foreign nation in question was Qatar. But according to the Daily Maverick, that report was not entirely accurate.
In fact, the Daily Maverick reported, it was the state-operated Qatar Museums, not Qatar more generally, that wanted to acquire a video recording of Elegy, the performance Goliath was to present. The piece would have also addressed the killings of women and queer people in South Africa and a Germany-led genocide in Namibia.
As Goliath pointed out to the Daily Maverick, many Biennale pavilions are supported by private individuals and institutions, some of which go on to acquire works shown there later on. “The minister’s narrative betrays his lack of understanding of the arts economy and the workings of Biennale pavilions,” she said.
The Qatar Museums had previously said in communications shared with the South African publication that it would be “happy to share it with our Art Mill curator for their interest.” The Art Mill is an in-progress museum to be set in a vast former flour mill.
After the pavilion was canceled, a Qatar Museums representative wrote, in communication seen by the Daily Maverick, “Sad. But given that climate in SA, it is good that we did not get involved.”
Qatar Museums declined to comment to ARTnews.
