On May 5 (local time), a 7th-century church in Venice, Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, filled with the sound of women’s voices—again and again. South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s “Elegy” is presented on eight large video screens, with performers holding long, aching tones for about an hour. The sound is sobbing and wailing, and also song. Like a medley, one voice is taken up by another behind it. As the mourning continues, the final screen shows only a lit platform, underscoring absence.
The church is less than a five-minute walk from the Arsenale, where the Venice Biennale’s main international exhibition is held. “Elegy” was originally set to be shown at South Africa’s national pavilion in the nearby Giardini. But after it became known the work included a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, 32, who died with her child in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in October 2023, the South African government canceled the pavilion’s participation in January, citing concerns it could cause division. With outside support, Goliath mounted “Elegy” as an independent exhibition at the church, which occasionally hosts contemporary art shows.
“Elegy,” a ritual of mourning for women killed by violence, began in 2014 as a tribute to a teenage schoolgirl, Ipeleng Christine Moholane, who was sexually assaulted and murdered in South Africa. In performing “Elegy” in her honor, Goliath read a letter written by Moholane’s father: “That child was my first child and my pride, and the greatest strength in my life. With her, a part of me also died.”
Over the past decade, Goliath has used the performance to call to mind and mourn women who died from sexual and racial violence. Those remembered include two Nama women who were forcibly displaced and killed during the Herero and Nama genocide carried out by German colonial forces in the early 20th century, as well as Palestinian women, children and civilians who were forcibly displaced and killed in mass violence.
Met near the exhibition space, Goliath was cautious, saying she could not comment beyond the May 4 preview and official interview on the South African government’s decision or on issues of freedom of expression.
The dispute reflects broader tensions at this year’s Venice Biennale, where art and politics have repeatedly collided. Controversy has spread as Russia, which skipped the past two biennales after its invasion of Ukraine, and Israel, accused of genocide over the Gaza conflict, are participating this year. In an unprecedented move, the entire jury resigned, and the Golden Lion winner is expected to be decided only in November.
The European Union has decided to withdraw about 2 million euros in funding it had provided to the Venice Biennale, citing Russia’s participation. As a result, the Russian pavilion will be open to the public only during the preview period and will close after the official opening on May 9. Political disputes also continued at major national pavilions including Australia and the United States.
Still, like the unbroken sound of “Elegy,” art continues. Belarus Free Theatre (BFT), made up of exiled artists from Belarus who faced repression of free expression under an authoritarian system, is presenting the exhibition “Official. Unofficial. Belarus” during the Venice Biennale. The exhibition argues that even when pushed outside a state system, art does not disappear.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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