Pro-Palestinian Cultural Workers Call for Strike Over US Ambassador’s Visit to Venice
Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA), a coalition of artists and cultural workers formed in early 2024 to oppose Israel’s participation in the Venice Biennale, called for a mass mobilization and strike on July 17 in response to a scheduled visit by US Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta. ANGA urged supporters to gather at 4 p.m. at Campo San Zaccaria in Venice, where Fertitta’s yacht is expected to dock, and reiterated its claim that the US “continues to arm, finance and politically shield” Israel’s actions in Palestine, which an independent UN commission has characterized as genocide. The group previously organized a 24-hour strike on May 8, the eve of the Biennale’s public opening, reporting that more than 20 national pavilions in the Giardini partially closed, with the Austrian and Japanese pavilions among those closed for the full day. ANGA also staged a May 5 demonstration titled “Solidarity Drone Chorus,” during which about 60 artists hummed Gazan composer Ahmed “Muin” Abu Amsha’s viral “Drone Song” at the Giardini entrance.
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This story was covered in Museum Power Plays and Cultural Flashpoints