Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie moved to replace Gabrielle Goliath's Venice Biennale artwork, Elegy, citing political concerns, but missed court deadlines. Email evidence shows attempts to replace the work, though the department now claims no exhibition is planned.

South Africa's participation in the 2026 Venice Biennale may still happen, despite Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie's apparently concerted machinations to cancel an artwork dealing with the killing of women and children in Gaza and femicide in South Africa.

South Africa's ambassador to Italy, Nosipho Jezile, said McKenzie told her on 6 February at a briefing in Rome that a decision had been made not to exhibit any artwork at South Africa's pavilion at the Biennale. The decision was apparently made so as "not to place South Africa in disrepute at an international platform".

However, when this decision was relayed to the Biennale Foundation that day, its response appeared to allow a glimmer of hope for the artist McKenzie sought to cancel, Gabrielle Goliath, and her team, curator Ingrid Masondo and studio manager James Macdonald.

The Biennale's Joern Brandmeyer wrote back to the embassy that "the catalogue constraints are currently being reviewed internally. In this context, we are pleased to confirm our availability to keep the pages reserved for the South Africa Pavilion and to extend the related deadlines until next week [this coming weekend]."

Daily Maverick understands that, at the time of publishing, the Department of Sport, Arts...