The Goliath Case Closes Amid Art, Politics, and Freedom of Expression
South Africa’s Pavilion will remain empty at the Venice Biennale 2026. After months of institutional tensions, legal appeals, and failed mediation attempts, the South African government has officially confirmed its withdrawal from the 61st edition of the international exhibition, scheduled to open in May. The decision brings the so-called “Goliath case” to a close while reigniting debate over the relationship between art, politics, and the autonomy of the artist within major global platforms.
Gabrielle Goliath
The space allocated to South Africa at the Arsenale will not host any state-supported exhibition. The announcement came from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), following the High Court’s dismissal of an appeal filed by artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo. The two had sought to overturn the cancellation of the project selected to officially represent the country at the Venice Biennale.
Judge Mamoloko Kubushi rejected the application without providing detailed reasoning in the ruling. Goliath has announced her intention to appeal, yet the government has chosen not to pursue any alternative curatorial proposal, effectively leaving the pavilion inactive.
The Elegy Project and the Institutional Rift
At the heart of the controversy was Elegy, a video-performance work initiated in 2015, dedicated to victims of femicide and the murders of LGBTQI+ individuals in South Africa. For the Venice Biennale, the artist had conceived a new chapter of the project, including a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed during an Israeli airstrike in October 2023. The addition expanded the scope of the work, connecting gender-based violence in Southern Africa to conflicts unfolding in Gaza and Namibia.
It was precisely this segment that prompted a response from Minister of Culture Gayton McKenzie, who, in an official letter dated December 2025, described the Gaza section as “highly divisive” and requested its modification. When the artist refused to alter the content, the DSAC cancelled the entire project on January 2, 2026.
In subsequent statements, McKenzie suggested that a “foreign power” had interfered in shaping the pavilion’s concept, warning against the risk of turning the Venetian space into a vehicle for cultural “proxy power.” However, journalistic investigations later downplayed these claims, pointing only to preliminary — and never formalized — interest from Qatar Museums in potentially acquiring the work after the Biennale.
Gabrielle Goliath, Elegy serie (2024; The Venice Biennale).
No Alternative Exhibition
Following the cancellation of Elegy, the Department reportedly reopened the selection process behind closed doors, approaching other artistic groups, including the collective Beyond the Frames. Yet this path also came to an abrupt end. In recent weeks, the collective was informed that South Africa would not proceed with participation at all.
DSAC spokesperson Stacey-Lee Khojane confirmed that no government-backed exhibition would take place, formally sealing the country’s absence from the Venice Biennale 2026.
Reactions from the Art World
The decision has sparked strong criticism within South Africa’s art community and beyond. Artist Candice Breitz, who represented the country at the 2017 Venice Biennale, highlighted what she described as a contradiction between the government’s international political stance — particularly its 2023 case filed at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza — and its failure to defend the freedom of expression of a South African artist.
Similarly, Steven Cohen, recently involved in a museum censorship case in Cape Town, described the ruling as “a call to dissent,” while the Campaign for Free Expression expressed concern about what it sees as a troubling precedent for artistic freedom.
Gabrielle Goliath, Elegy serie (2024; The Venice Biennale).
Contemporary Art and Institutional Responsibility
The Goliath case highlights an increasingly visible fracture between public institutions and critical artistic practices. In the context of the Venice Biennale — long regarded as a global platform for dialogue among cultures, artistic languages, and political positions — South Africa’s absence carries symbolic weight beyond a single cancelled exhibition.
Rather than a mere logistical withdrawal, this decision signals a broader tension regarding the role governments wish to play in shaping the content of contemporary art. As the Arsenale prepares to host national pavilions from around the world, the empty South African space will stand as a tangible reminder of an unresolved conflict between creative freedom, institutional responsibility, and cultural power.
