[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026BIE_664.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Biennale of Sydney, the most important biennial in the Pacific region, denied discrimination in its current edition after some members of Australia\u2019s Jewish community repeatedly claimed that curator Hoor Al Qasimi had selected for participants with anti-Zionist politics.<\/p>\n
\n\tOne prominent Jewish group, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, had initially been invited to preview the Biennale ahead of its public opening this weekend. \u201cIf there are works with a pro-Palestinian bias, fine,\u201d president David Ossip told the Australian Financial Review<\/em> in a report from February that labeled the invitation a \u201cpeace offering.\u201d \u201cBut I will call it out if they are not balanced with anything from another point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut on Wednesday, after the Biennale opened to the press, that same publication reported that Ossip\u2019s group had declined to attend the show\u2019s preview. He said that the group had done so not because of any art in the show, but because it was \u201cdisappointed that further issues have since emerged involving objectionable social media activity by certain participating artists.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Australian Financial Review<\/em> reported that two posts were ones that had also been flagged to the Biennale by Morry Schwartz, a publisher who called the current exhibition a \u201chate Israel jamboree\u201d before its opening. The posts cited in the new report were critical of Israel and Zionism; both specifically mentioned Jews. Ossip said that these posts contained \u201crhetoric that many in our community reasonably regard as antisemitic and capable of inciting hatred towards Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn a statement to ARTnews<\/em>, a Biennale of Sydney spokesperson said that this edition did not contain prejudice. \u201cThe\u00a0Biennale\u00a0does not tolerate racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, or any form of discrimination,\u201d a statement from the biennial said. \u201cThe organisation\u2019s priority is to ensure the\u00a0Biennale\u00a0remains an inclusive and welcoming environment for all audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMoreover, the Biennale said it\u00a0\u201cdoes not select or exclude artists based on their religion, cultural background, nationality, or political views. Participation is determined solely through a rigorous process grounded in artistic merit.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMuch of the scrutiny paid to this edition seems derive from prior statements by Qasimi, an outspoken advocate for pro-Palestine causes. When she curated the 2025 edition of Japan\u2019s Aichi Triennale, she denounced Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, which she called a \u201cgenocide and ethnic cleansing,\u201d and said that \u201cit\u2019s been a very emotional experience. I echo many people when they say, none of us will be free until all of us are free. So, free Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tQasimi did not show up to the preview of the Biennale of Sydney this week\u2014an unusual move, since curators typically hold press conferences for the biennials they organize. A Biennale spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> that she had elected not to attend to ensure that this edition remains artist-centric. \u201cShe has chosen to let their work, their histories, and their voices take centre stage,\u201d the spokesperson said, speaking of the participants.<\/p>\n \n\tA spokesperson for the Sharjah Art Foundation, the acclaimed art space that Qasimi leads, told ARTnews<\/em>, \u201cHoor has made a deliberate curatorial decision to step back at this time to ensure the focus remains entirely on the artists and their work, and as such will not be providing a comment.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEarly reviews of the Biennale suggest that it is not an explicitly pro-Palestine edition. Critic Dee Jefferson wrote in the Guardian<\/em> that concerns about the exhibition\u2019s politics are \u201cnot borne out by the festival itself.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s light on spectacle and slogans; not a political chant but rather a polyphony of voices \u2013 more than 80 artists from 37 countries \u2013 singing their own songs,\u201d Jefferson writes.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Australian Financial Review<\/em> also reported that the exhibition did not contain many works directly contending with Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/biennale-of-sydney-jewish-group-pro-palestine-artists-1234777201\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026BIE_664.jpg?w=1024″] The Biennale of Sydney, the most important biennial in the Pacific region, denied discrimination in its current edition after some members of Australia\u2019s Jewish community repeatedly claimed that curator Hoor Al Qasimi had selected for participants with anti-Zionist politics. One prominent Jewish group, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, had initially been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1823037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1823037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823037\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1823037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1823037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1823037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}