Meet the Irish artists boycotting a Berlin exhibition over Gaza massacre

At least 13 Irish artists have withdrawn from a photography exhibition being held in Berlin, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their supporters who have faced an unprecedented German crackdown on their right to protest against Israel.

Changing States: Ireland in the 21st Century traces 100 years of Irish history through the lens of accomplished artists who have chronicled the lives of people in the country of a little over 5 million in different ways. The exhibition runs till August 11.

But after some of the artists withdrew, the Berlin exhibition organisers decided to completely erase any mention of their work. The organisers also did not publicly disclose the reason why the artists refused to participate.

“There is an irony in terms of how (the action of the exhibition organisers) mimics the response of the German state in terms of silencing, and erasing what actually happened in the show,” says Mark Curran, one of the artists.

Curran draws a comparison between the current political climate of Germany and the situation in the 1930s when Nazi fascism was taking over the country.

“People talk about what they would have done in the 1930s. This is another moment (like that) to step up and take a position.”

The artists who have distanced themselves from the Berlin exhibition organised by Photo Museum Ireland, IKS Düsseldorf and Haus am Kleistpark say that the show would have been meaningless without shedding light on the suffering of the Palestinian people.

“As an artist, I feel it would be insincere to exhibit work on political and social themes without acknowledging these atrocities in Gaza,” says Ruby Wallis, another artist who has pulled out of the exhibition.

For some participants, Germany’s continuing military support for the Israeli military, which has killed more than 37,600 Palestinians, showing their work in Berlin had become a moral issue.

“To show my artwork in a country that is suppressing freedom of speech and supplying weapons to Israel, would be in opposition to the ethics of my practice,” says Kate Nolan, an Irish visual artist based in Dublin.

Personal journeys

Curran, a 59-year-old Irish-born activist and artist, has lived in Berlin for almost 21 years.

When he was 16, he attended his first demonstration for Palestine in Dublin. He continues to attend demonstrations almost every week, joining many others who are calling for a stop to the genocide in Gaza.

“Coming from Ireland, you're aware of your own struggle against anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, against the colonisation of Ireland on the part of Britain, and also aware of the struggles in South Africa in particular, and in Palestine.”

Curran worked on projects against apartheid South Africa and in support of Palestine in the 1980s and 1990s.

The artists had asked the exhibition organisers to explain to the public why they had decided to withdraw from the event and to include their point of view in the exhibition catalogue.

“Indeed the catalogue was reprinted one week before the exhibition opened and all the work by those artists who had withdrawn was removed from the catalogue and again with no reference to their withdrawal,” says Curran.

After the artists announced their withdrawal via email, Haus am Kleispark chose to ignore it. The organiser also did not make public the reason behind the Irish artists' decision.

“This feels like erasure and silencing of our withdrawal,” says Nolan, whose work focused on the nature of identity.

While the exhibition is centred around political themes, notions of home, and changing identities since Ireland became a republic, it didn’t allow artistic space for opinions on Palestine.

The silencing act

Germany is the second largest exporter of arms, after the US, to Israel.

“I cannot continue with my life as an artist and mother while these conditions continue in Gaza and the occupied West Bank,” says Ruby Wallis.

Her photographic work focuses on gender and discourse, examining safe and unsafe spaces for women.

“I am determined to show my opinion on these deadly attacks on innocent families, many of whom are in refugee camps with no means of escape.”

In a similar vein, Mark Curran expresses that “art has a role to draw attention to the situation within Berlin and also Germany's complicity in what we're witnessing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.”

Secondly, artists want to draw attention to the ongoing silencing of pro-Palestinian voices in Berlin’s art scene, and police brutality against people who want to protest against Israel’s genocide.

Berlin-based video and photography artist, Candice Bereitz’s exhibition was cancelled by the Saarland Museum in Saarbrücken in November, as the Jewish artist wrote a post urging people to support Palestinian liberation.

Some other artists and groups that were cancelled were Lankum in November, Laurie Anderson with “Letter Against Apartheid” in January, and Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck in January due to the use of the phrase “Free Palestine.”

“Cultural boycotting firstly helps the artists to question and hold cultural institutions to account, and secondly, to open the conversation to other artists and arts audiences to also question and apply pressure on oppressors”, Nolan says, referring to the process of silencing.

Also, with their decision to withdraw from the exhibition, the artists sent a message that they were dismayed by the police brutality against pro-Palestinian protestors.

“I have personally witnessed the dangerous climate for protest in solidarity with Palestine in Germany and feel compelled to take action,” Wallis says.

Art has an essential role in voicing all these concerns, as “Artists often serve as a political voice, making visible the imbalances in our society through their work,” she adds.