Artists Urged to Act Amid Gaza Genocide

Marcello Faletra's opinion piece on Artribune criticizes artists for their delayed response to the genocide in Gaza, contrasting their silence with activists like Greta Thunberg and Luca Casarini. He references Bertolt Brecht's 1935 essay on the difficulties of writing truth and Susan Sontag's critique of art aestheticizing suffering. Faletra argues that art should be combative rather than aesthetic, citing the 2022 Venice Biennale's installation of sacks for Ukraine as a double standard since similar solidarity with Palestinians is taboo. He calls for artists to leave studios and contaminate galleries and museums with protest signs, emphasizing that the West's culture is complicit in persecution. The piece mentions the Flotilla activists, 99Posse, Roger Waters, and Adorno's reflection on genocide. Faletra concludes that if art does not side with Palestinians, it is 'spazzatura' (trash).