As the selection committee for the South African Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, we were appointed by Art Periodic in November 2025 to assess proposals against curatorial, artistic, and logistical criteria relevant to the Biennale; uphold integrity and accountability throughout the decision-making process; and recommend the proposal (artists and curators) best positioned to represent South Africa on this international platform.
Following this mandate, the committee convened on 6 December 2025 and unanimously selected the proposal of Elegy by Gabrielle Goliath, curated by Ingrid Masondo. The proposal profoundly resonates with Koyo Kouoh’s curatorial vision for the 61st International Exhibition, titled In Minor Keys, which is “grounded in a deep belief in artists as the vital interpreters of the social and psychic condition and catalysts of new relations and possibilities”. Elegy centres intimacy, care, and listening, creating space for reflection on loss and remembrance. The project centres “planetary concerns of loss and disregard”, with a central focus on the “urgent specifics of a national disaster of femicide in South Africa,” but also including experiences in Namibia and Gaza. The proposed work recognises and mourns the tragic loss of innocent lives, including Palestinian women and children. Elegy’s understated yet powerful engagement with grief speaks to Kouoh’s emphasis on practices that address historical and ongoing forms of violence with sensitivity, responsibility, and emotional depth, representing South Africa with a courageous and challenging project.
The selection process adhered to all administrative protocols to ensure a fair process and was audited by Millard Arnold, a senior advisor at Bowman Gilfillan. The selected project met all the requirements of the brief given to the selection committee. We, as the selection committee, confirm that we stand by this decision, and believe that the project, artist and curator are best placed to represent South Africa, and well within the highest standard of national pavilions at the Venice Biennale.
We affirm our continued and unequivocal support for the artist, the curator, and their project in the face of political pressure and attempts to silence free expression and compromise artistic integrity. The termination of the project proposed for the South African Pavilion constitutes an abuse of executive authority and a serious violation of the principles enshrined in South Africa’s Constitution. The cancellation of an independent and transparent curatorial process is deeply troubling, particularly in light of the Pavilion’s long history of non-transparency and mismanagement. We therefore reject, without reservation, any effort to coerce artists or curators into altering artistic statements to serve political narratives. We further reject all forms of censorship and intimidation that seek to curtail critical artistic practice or undermine the autonomy of cultural production. Such interference is unacceptable and stands in direct opposition to the values of democracy, accountability, and cultural freedom.
Signed by the Selection Committee for the South African Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale.
Greer Valley
Molemo Moiloa
Nomusa Makhubu
Sean O’Toole
Tumelo Mosaka
