Biennale furore and fine art of geopolitics

South African Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie is resolute about his decision to withdraw South Africa’s Gaza-linked art submission for the 2026 Venice Biennale, insisting the move was necessary to protect the integrity of the country’s national pavilion. 

Though McKenzie referred to the alleged involvement of an unnamed “foreign government”, political sources confirmed this country was Qatar. 

The reliable sources stressed that Qatar had indicated an intention to purchase the artwork after the Biennale, a move that, they say, “created an incentive” for the artist and production company to use South Africa’s official cultural platform to advance a particular political narrative about Gaza. 

“The expectation of a future purchase created an incentive to use the national pavilion to showcase a so-called genocide in Gaza,” the political source said. 

David Saranga, the head of the Digital Diplomacy Division at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told the SA Jewish Report that the episode reflected a broader pattern of state-driven influence operations in the cultural sphere. 

“This case best illustrates how influence operations against Israel are carried out in the cultural space by states with significant resources,” Saranga said. “It’s the first time we have seen Qatar’s fingerprint in the cultural art space.” 

Despite a backlash, McKenzie insists that he didn’t silence the artist involved and remains determined that South Africa will still participate in the Biennale. He said the submission was withdrawn after the department concluded that it crossed the line from art into geopolitical advocacy. 

McKenzie told the SA Jewish Report he had “no regrets” about cancelling the department’s working agreement with Art Periodic, the organisation appointed to administer South Africa’s national pavilion at the Biennale. 

The withdrawal was first reported by Daily Maverick last week, which said the department had intervened over concerns linked to Gaza-related references in the proposed work. 

It was in early December 2025 that acclaimed South African artist Gabrielle Goliath was confirmed as South Africa’s representative at the Venice Biennale. 

Her proposed work, Elegy, is a body of work developed over a decade that focuses on themes of mourning, memory, and repair. According to curatorial material, it linked the killing of women by colonial forces in Namibia; hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community in South Africa; and recently added what the curators described as the killing of tens of thousands of women and children in Gaza since October 2023. 

The exhibition included a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed during the war in Gaza. 

On 18 December, Goodman Gallery ended its relationship with Goliath, having represented her locally for a decade. The gallery has firmly rejected media suggestions that the split was linked to the Venice Biennale submission. 

Goodman Gallery owner and director Liza Essers said the decision was purely a business one. “Our representation of Gabrielle Goliath ended last year as part of a wider structural business review,” Essers said. “The decision was taken in the last quarter, following subdued market conditions at international fairs, to reduce the roster from 50 to 40 artists, participate in fewer art fairs, and reduce the number of exhibitions across the galleries in response to wider international art market contraction.” 

Essers said the gallery had no involvement in South Africa’s Venice Biennale pavilion and played no role in decisions relating to Goliath’s submission. 

“We weren’t directly involved with the pavilion at the Venice Biennale at any point, nor have we been part of correspondence,” she said. 

“Goodman Gallery represents artists from many different cultural backgrounds holding many different viewpoints. The gallery stands for freedom of artistic expression and supports artists in their right to engage critically with socio-political histories and urgent contemporary realities, even when such work generates discomfort or disagreement. We strongly believe in this right, embedded in our South African Constitution, which includes artistic creativity, but excludes incitement of violence and hate speech.” 

In earlier correspondence with those involved, McKenzie requested that Goliath modify aspects of her proposed Biennale submission. According to the minister, the artist declined to do so. 

On 2 January, McKenzie formally withdrew the submission, citing concerns about foreign government involvement and the use of South Africa’s national pavilion to advance a geopolitical narrative relating to Israel and Gaza. 

Israeli news outlet Ynet cited diplomatic sources in South Africa identifying Qatar as the country behind the effort, intensifying scrutiny of the episode and fuelling debate about foreign influence and sovereignty in South Africa’s cultural diplomacy. 

The Venice Biennale is widely regarded as the most prestigious contemporary art exhibition in the world, with national pavilions serving as highly visible platforms for cultural and political expression. 

McKenzie has rejected claims that the department censored artists or withdrew funding from South Africa’s participation in the Biennale. He said reports suggesting that public funds had been pulled were inaccurate and misleading. 

In a statement issued through his spokesperson, Stacey-Lee Khojane, McKenzie said the department’s agreement with Art Periodic related to making South Africa’s exhibition space available for the promotion of South African artists at the Biennale, and that the rental for the South African pavilion had already been paid. 

According to McKenzie, Art Periodic was responsible for raising additional funds from South Africa’s private sector, but concerns arose when it was reported that a foreign country was allegedly linked to the project. 

Despite explanations that the foreign state intended only to purchase artworks after the Biennale, McKenzie said the situation remained troubling and created the perception that South Africa’s official platform was being used indirectly by a foreign power. 

His decision has sparked backlash across South Africa’s art sector and beyond. International art publication ARTnews reported that the pavilion was pulled just eight days before nations were required to finalise their submissions, an unusually late intervention that sent shock waves through the global art world. 

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has since taken McKenzie to the Public Protector, accusing him of improperly interfering in the Biennale process and undermining freedom of artistic expression. 

“I care little for anything DA related. I will state my case to the Public Protector,” McKenzie said. He reiterated that South Africa would still participate in the Venice Biennale.