Gabrielle Goliath’s Elegy Shown Independently After South African Government Cancellation

Gabrielle Goliath's performance piece, Elegy, originated in 2015 when she heard a father lament his daughter, Ipeleng Christine Moholane, on a Cape Town radio show. This work has transformed into a continuous practice of mourning systemic violence, featuring seven operatic women sustaining a single note for an hour. For the 61st Venice Biennale, Goliath broadened Elegy to honor lives lost in South Africa, Namibia, and Gaza, including journalist Hiba Abu Nada, who died in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023. In January 2026, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, canceled Goliath's national pavilion presentation, deeming the Gaza tribute divisive. Goliath's refusal to modify the work led to legal action, which was ultimately dismissed. She will present Elegy independently at Chiesa di Sant’Antonin in Venice from May 5 to July 31, 2026, while the official South African Pavilion remains empty for the first time since 2011. Goliath views the cancellation as a betrayal of constitutional freedom of expression and indicative of deeper issues within the art world regarding whose lives are deemed worthy of grief. The independent venue offers a sacred space for the work, free from Biennale constraints. An event titled Elegy Reader, featuring poets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Namibia, South Africa, Haiti, Sudan, and more, is scheduled for May 7th.