Israel's representative at Venice Biennale shuts down art exhibit, demands hostage deal

• Published date: 17 April 2024
• Author: ANDREW LAPIN/JTA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Ruth Patir, whom Israel selected as its official representative at the Venice Biennale, closed her country's pavilion on Tuesday with her artwork fully installed inside. To the door she affixed a note reading, "The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached."

Protests in the art world over Israel's war with Hamas have become commonplace since Oct. 7, and some artists unsuccessfully pushed for Israel's exclusion from the Biennale because of the war. Patir's action is unusual because she is an Israeli publicly rebuking her government on the world stage.

"I firmly object to [the] cultural boycott, but since I feel there are no right answer[s], and I can only do what I can with the space I have, I prefer to raise my voice with those I stand with in their scream," Patir wrote on Instagram Tuesday, explaining her decision. "Ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can't take it anymore."

Without government approval

Israel's government did not know about Patir's actions before she took them, according to The New York Times. She had been selected as Israel's official Venice Biennale artist in September, prior to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the outbreak of war, and the country has paid for half the costs of the pavilion.

Since the war began, Patir said she has regularly joined protests in Tel Aviv calling for a ceasefire deal that would release the estimated 130 hostages still being held by Hamas. The protests also oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom the protesters and even some negotiators say has acted with indifference to the plight of the hostages and their families. (Polls have found that while Netanyahu is deeply unpopular in Israel, most Israelis support continuing the war.)

She came to the decision to shut the pavilion alongside her Israeli curators, Tamar Margalit and Mira Lapidot, who are also supporting the action. A small video installation, connected to Patir's overall exhibit theme of maternal health, is visible from the pavilion door. The exhibit itself is called "(M)otherland" and was inspired by Patir's own health struggles; after being diagnosed with a gene mutation that increases her risk of breast and ovarian cancer, doctors advised her to freeze her eggs.

The artist and curators hope a ceasefire and hostage deal will be reached and they will be able to reopen their pavilion long before the scheduled end of the Biennale in...