After registering objections from 61 participating artists that were supported by the entire curatorial delegation of its 31st São Paulo Biennial, the Fundaçao Bienal São Paulo has agreed to “clearly disassociate” Israeli funding from the general sponsorship of the exhibition. The agreement, announced this morning in a release from the Biennial’s objecting participants, has the Israeli consulate’s logo appended only to the presentations of the Israeli artists who received its direct financial support.
The deal was struck in negotiations with Biennial administrators last night, a source close the discussions tells Hyperallergic. The number of participant signatories to the original letter was also up to 61, from the original 55, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency wire service. The curators’ statement of support, released one day after the August 28 artists’ letter, was unanimous, though Israeli curator Oren Sagiv “stressed” to Ha’aretz “that he did not support the letter but rather the artists’ right to protest.”
The three Israeli artists with whom the sponsorship is associated are Yohai Avrahami, Leigh Orpaz, and Nurit Sharett. A fourth Israeli artist, Yael Bartana, was a signatory to the letter of protest; the other three were not. Agence France Presse reports that Israeli funding comprised approximately $40,000 of the Biennial’s $10.5 million budget.
The exhibition actually had guards stand in front of the Israeli logo to protect it from being defaced by these oh-so-progressive artists and their fans. We wouldn't want the audience to be subjected to something that is clearly too extreme for a group of people for whom placing images of religious figures in urine is already passe.
The person who spearheaded the anti-Israel campaign is Tony Chakar, a Lebanese artist. He writes about how Israel supposedly oppresses Palestinians but has not a word to say about how his own country treats Palestinians far worse than Israel could ever be accused of. He lives in a country where Palestinians are discriminated against by law, where they cannot build, buy land, work in many jobs or become citizens.
In other words, he is a typical hypocrite that naturally becomes a darling of his hypocritical friends.
The Biennial itself did not release a statement as far as I can tell, but it changed its "partners" page to delete all international partners, not just Israel.
Before:
Now:
It looks like the Brazilians are trying to give in to the demands of the artists without appearing to cave all the way. In other words, they have no principles either.
The other sponsors should be speaking up as well. Perhaps a word from Bloomberg Philanthropies can sway the Biennial organizers.