Israeli Pavilion at Venice Biennale Will Not Open Until a Ceasefire Is Reached

Ruth Patir, the artist representing Israel at the forthcomingVenice Biennale, and curators Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit, who are organizing her exhibition, have said the country’s pavilion will not open to the public until Israel and Hamas reach “a cease-fire and hostage release agreement.” The trio’s announcement comes as the death toll in Gaza owing to Israel’s continued assault on the region—conducted in retaliation for the October 7 Hamasattackon Israeli soil in which 1,200 were killed and some 250 taken hostage—surgespast 33,000. The three did not notify the Israeli government, which paid for roughly half the pavilion, in advance of the closure.

Patir, who was tapped for the pavilion in September, a month before the attack, told theNew York Timesshe felt that shuttering it was the only action she could take. The artist noted that she had not imagined “the hostages still in captivity, with the war still raging,” at this late date. “I hate it,” she said of the decision to close the exhibition. “But I think it’s important.”

The closure is especially notable because it represents protest from inside Israel, whereas to date, many of the public cries for a ceasefire have been issued from outside the country. Pro-Palestine activists have recently been vocal in calling for a boycott of the pavilion.

“We (Tamar, Mira, and I) have become the news, not the art. And if I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” wrote Patir on Instagram. “I firmly object to cultural boycott, but since I feel there are no right answers, 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, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”

Patir’s show “(M)otherland” centers fertility statues and examines the pressure on women to become mothers. While the pavilion will remain locked until the abovementioned conditions are met, visitors will be able to view through one of its windows a two-and-a-half-minute video by Patir in which images of ancient fertility statues in various states of disrepair appear to come to agonizing life. The artist, who is comparatively unknown outside her native Israel, said she remained hopeful that the pavilion could open before the November 24 close of the Biennale.