Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova exhibition at Tel Aviv Museum of Art faces cancellation calls from artists

A group exceeding fifty cultural figures has publicly urged Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova to withdraw their exhibition from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Their collaborative project, What if Women Ruled the World?, launched in 2022, is a physical and digital quilt inviting public responses to feminist prompts. The open letter, reported by The Art Newspaper, criticizes the show's presence in Israel, arguing it contradicts the artists' stated commitments to social justice. Signatories contend that holding a feminist exhibition in a state they accuse of violating women's rights constitutes hypocrisy, citing a UN Women analysis from 19 May 2025 reporting over 28,000 women and girls killed in Gaza since October 2023. Tolokonnikova clarified she is not currently involved in project decisions, though the museum stated it proceeded with the artists' permission. Tania Coen-Uzzielli, the museum's director, expressed horror at the situation in Gaza but rejected exhibition cancellations as a meaningful response. Judy Chicago, an American pioneer of second-wave feminism, established the first Feminist Art Program at Fresno State College in 1970. Nadya Tolokonnikova is a founding member of the Russian protest collective Pussy Riot.