Gabrielle Goliath's Censored Venice Biennale Work Shows In London

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Gabrielle Goliath's installation, Elegy, which was originally slated for the South African pavilion at this year's Venice Biennale but was subsequently cancelled, is now on view in London at the private foundation Ibraaz. The exhibition runs through January 17, 2027.

Goliath's decade-long series, exploring femicide and the murders of LGBTQ+ individuals in South Africa through performance and video, includes Elegy. The piece features a sequence of women who each sing a single mournful note, with another woman stepping in as the previous one's breath concludes.

The version of Elegy intended for the biennial specifically addressed rape culture in South Africa, the Herero and Nama genocide in Namibia in the early 20th century, and the death of Hiba Abu Nada, a Palestinian poet killed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023. In January, Gayton McKenzie, South Africa's sport, arts, and culture minister, cancelled Goliath's participation, citing the commemoration of Abu Nada as“divisive.”

Following the cancellation, Ibraaz partnered with the social justice charity the Bertha Foundation to display the work at the Chiesa di Sant'Antonin in Venice. It was on view from the biennial's opening in May until the end of July, before moving to Ibraaz's main location in London.

Hammad Nasar, Ibraaz's director of programmes and content, stated:“When Ibraaz opened last October, we had this coinage as a brave space for art, culture and ideas. Well, what does that look like, and what does that mean? Brave does not mean: let's poke you in the eye with a sharp stick. Brave means paying attention to whose voices need to be heard.” Nasar noted that Ibraaz has exhibited artists and works on politically sensitive subjects, such as Palestine and Islamophobia, that other institutions have avoided.

Elegy is exhibited concurrently with Lebanese-American artist Joe Namy's Cosmic Breath (2023/26), a sound installation featuring ten megaphones playing the adhan, or call to prayer. The Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah commissioned this work in 2023, but it has not been shown since, despite efforts to place it at other institutions, according to The Art Newspaper.

“There is no shortage of artworks that are being censored right now,” Nasar added.“Our goal is not to simply show what's been censored, but we're also not joining the queue to show safe or same-old work. We are thinking about what work we want to share with people, what work people are not getting access to, and what's not getting funded.”

Source: The Art Newspaper

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