Overview
- An independent committee selected artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo in December, but the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture blocked the project on January 2.
- Minister Gayton McKenzie called the Gaza component "highly divisive" and, according to reported internal correspondence, warned South Africa could withdraw from the Biennale if it remained.
- The department says the national pavilion should not be a proxy for geopolitical conflicts and confirms South Africa will still participate under state-run administration and curation.
- The selection committee condemned the intervention as censorship, Art Periodic said it no longer holds a mandate to proceed, and Goliath and Masondo have appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa and DIRCO.
- McKenzie rejects the censorship claim and alleges a foreign country sought to fund the exhibition, a position that has drawn criticism from artists including Candice Breitz.