Public Protector Reviews South Africa’s Venice Biennale Withdrawal as Qatar Museums Claim Emerges

Overview

• The Public Protector confirmed receipt of a complaint over the minister’s decision and said the matter is being processed under standard investigation procedures.
• Minister Gayton McKenzie withdrew South Africa’s 2026 Biennale submission after an independent panel selected Gabrielle Goliath, and his department later ended its partnership with Art Periodic despite pavilion rental having been paid.
• McKenzie framed the move as a patriotic step to prevent South Africa’s platform from being used by a foreign actor to push a message about Israel and Gaza.
• Investigative reporting identifies the referenced actor as Qatar Museums, which discussed acquiring a video recording of Goliath’s Elegy and was reportedly no longer interested before the minister’s intervention.
• Critics, including Christina Sharpe and Rinaldo Walcott, denounced the cancellation as censorship tied to Gaza politics, and prior reporting says McKenzie had privately called the pavilion “polarizing.”