Overview
- Artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo plan to file an urgent application in Pretoria’s High Court by January 22, seeking to overturn Minister Gayton McKenzie’s cancellation as unconstitutional and to reinstate their pavilion.
- McKenzie canceled the project on January 2 after a December 22 letter calling the Abu Nada–related component “highly divisive” and tied to a polarizing international conflict.
- Goliath and Masondo were chosen on December 6 by an independent committee to present a new iteration of Elegy addressing femicide, murders of LGBTQI+ people, the Ovaherero and Nama genocide, and the death of Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada.
- The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has quietly restarted planning, with the 30-artist collective Beyond the Frames saying it has been in talks with the department about a potential Venice contribution.
- After canceling the pavilion, McKenzie alleged interference by a “foreign power”; reporting has pointed to Qatar Museums with that involvement disputed, and petitions have urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to dismiss the minister as Goliath’s team confirms letters sent to him and notes his office has not yet reviewed one.