Overview
- The application, led by advocate Adila Hassim, was lodged in the High Court in Pretoria seeking to declare Minister Gayton McKenzie’s interference unconstitutional and to reinstate the artists’ pavilion plans.
- An independent five-person committee unanimously selected Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo on December 6 to present a new iteration of Elegy addressing femicide, LGBTQI+ killings, the Ovaherero and Nama genocide, and the death of Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada.
- McKenzie called the Abu Nada–related suite “highly divisive” in a December 22 letter and canceled the pavilion on January 2, eight days before the first Biennale submission deadline.
- The culture department has reportedly restarted planning for Venice and has been in discussions with the 30-artist collective Beyond the Frames about a potential alternative pavilion.
- McKenzie has alleged involvement by a “foreign power,” with reporting pointing to earlier interest from Qatar Museums in acquiring a recording of Elegy, and the Public Protector is reportedly reviewing complaints as petitions and a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa press for intervention.