ARTASIAPACIFIC reported that A group of nearly 200 artists, curators, and cultural workers participating in the upcoming 61st edition of the Venice Biennale has formally called for Israel’s exclusion from this year’s exhibition, citing ongoing geopolitical tensions and humanitarian concerns.
An initial petition, led by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA), was formally delivered to the president and board of the biennale on October 2, 2025. Observing that the Israeli Ministry of Culture had issued an open call for artists and curators to represent the national pavilion, the group stated:. “ANGA condemns this complicit invitation. . . . At a time when Israel continues to escalate its genocide with the destruction and ground invasion of Gaza City, following months of enforced famine, the Biennale should be ashamed to be in dialogue with the cultural representatives of the Israeli occupation.”.
Biennale organizers did not issue a public response to the initial petition. In mid-January 2026, artist Belu-Simion Fainaru was officially announced as Israel’s representative for the upcoming exhibition.
As the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran continues to intensify and expand across the Middle East, ANGA published a subsequent open letter on March 17 reiterating their demand, along with a list of all 183 signatories, including artists, curators, and cultural workers involved in the national pavilions as well as the main exhibition titled “In Minor Keys.” In the letter, ANGA wrote: “The Venice Biennale’s complicity with the attempted destruction of Palestinian life must end. No artist or cultural worker should be asked to share a platform with this genocidal state. . . . Genocide cannot be tolerated by an institution that aims to investigate and celebrate the human values embodied by art.”
The campaign echoes a similar initiative during the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale in 2024, when a boycott petition garnered more than 24,000 signatures and contributed to the closure of Israel’s pavilion during that event.
As of now, neither the Venice Biennale’s governing body nor the Israeli Ministry of Culture has publicly responded to the latest letter.
The 61st Venice Biennale is scheduled to run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, and is expected to proceed amid heightened scrutiny over the intersection of art, politics, and international conflict.
