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South Africa has canceled its pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which was to feature a performance by artist Gabrielle Goliath addressing the killings of women and queer people in South Africa, a German-led genocide in Namibia, and Israel’s war in Gaza. The performance would have included readings of poetry by Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023. South African Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie blamed an unidentified foreign nation for seeking to use the pavilion for "proxy power," and Israeli publication Ynetnews reported that nation is Qatar. McKenzie denied censorship, claiming a rift with the nonprofit Art Periodic South Africa over a foreign nation's offer to purchase artworks after the Biennale.

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South African artist Gabrielle Goliath to approach high court over cancelled Venice Biennale pavilion

South African artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo are taking urgent legal action against South Africa's sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie after he cancelled their project for the country's Venice Biennale pavilion. The pair were selected in December 2025 to present a new iteration of Goliath's decade-long project *Elegy*, which addresses femicide and the murder of LGBTQI+ people, and was also set to include references to the Ovaherero and Nama genocide in Namibia and the death of Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. McKenzie, leader of the right-wing Patriotic Alliance party, described the Abu Nada-related content as "highly divisive" and cancelled the project on 2 January, just days before the submission deadline. The legal team, led by Adila Hassim, will file an application at the high court in Pretoria by 22 January, arguing that McKenzie's interference is unconstitutional.

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