Grada Kilomba's Portuguese Pavilion Proposal for Venice Biennale 2022 Rejected Amid Allegations of Jury Bias

On November 11, 2021, the Portuguese Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES) announced the jury's decision to reject the proposal 'A Ferida' by artist Grada Kilomba and curator Bruno Leitão for the official Portuguese representation at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. In an open letter, Leitão revealed that juror Nuno Crespo, a professor at the Portuguese Catholic University, assigned aberrantly low scores to Kilomba's project, awarding it 10 out of 20 points in multiple categories, a stark discrepancy from other jurors' assessments and his own scores for other proposals. Crespo justified his evaluation by questioning the artistic merit of Kilomba's work and its commitment to the internationalization of the Portuguese art scene. The decision has been criticized as racist and misogynistic, particularly given Kilomba's heritage from São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola, former Portuguese colonies. The remaining jury members accepted the arbitrary result without resigning, and the DGARTES declined to intervene, highlighting institutional failures to address procedural bad faith. The Ministry of Culture remained silent. The article, authored by Ana Teixeira Pinto, argues the rejection symbolizes Portugal's refusal to confront its colonial legacy and systemic racial inequalities within its cultural institutions.