The Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale will remain closed for the time being.
Israel represented at the Venice Biennale Ruth Patir said on Tuesday that he will open his exhibition only after Hamas has released all the Israeli hostages. This is reported by the news agency AFP.
Patir calls for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
Patir was scheduled to open his (M)otherland video installation on Saturday at the Israel Pavilion.
“I feel that the time of art is lost, and I have to believe that its time will come back,” he wrote on Instagram.
According to Patir, about him and the curators of the video installation Mira Lapitodista and Tamar Magalitista has become “news, not art”.
“And if I’m given such a significant stage, I want it to matter. Therefore, I have decided that the pavilion will only be opened when the hostages are released and the ceasefire begins.”
Art Not Genocide group published an open letter in February in which they demanded that Israel be excluded from the biennial. Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano did not agree to the request. According to Sangiuliano, excluding Israel would mean suppressing freedom of thought and creative expression.
Patir emphasized on Tuesday that he is an artist and that he opposes the “cultural boycott”.
“I feel like there are no right answers. I can only do what I can in the space I am given, and I prefer to raise my voice with those among whom I stand. We can’t take it anymore,” he said.
Curator of the Venice Biennale Adriano Pedrosa told AFP that he considered Patiri’s decision “very brave”.
“I respect and appreciate the decision. I think it is also very wise,” he said.