Seven prominent international artists have withdrawn their works from a highly anticipated exhibition at one of Italy's most prestigious contemporary art museums, accusing the institution of supporting what they call genocide in Palestine through its corporate partnerships. The artists pulled out of "11: The Relational Years" at MAXXI in Rome just as the exhibition was set to open, creating a significant controversy in the art world.
The withdrawing artists include Tania Bruguera, Dora Garcia, Phil Collins, Siniša Mitrović, Alessandra Saviotti, and Gemma Medina. They were scheduled to be featured alongside major names like Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Cattelan, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Pierre Huyghe, and Rirkrit Tiravanija in the survey exhibition exploring relational aesthetics, a movement first theorized in 1998 by curator Nicolas Bourriaud.
In an open letter published on the website of Nero Editions, a publishing house specializing in artist books and museum catalogs, the artists explained their decision. "We have become aware of MAXXI's stance on the ongoing genocide in Gaza and on the brutal occupation of Palestine, evidenced through its acceptance of funding from and recent collaborations with Eni, Leonardo s.p.a. and other entities directly complicit in these atrocities," they wrote.
The artists specifically targeted two Italian companies with ties to Israel. Leonardo is the largest arms manufacturer in the European Union and one of the world's biggest weapons producers, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Eni, an energy technology company, was among six firms that received licenses for natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea from Israel's Energy Ministry in October 2023, as reported by Reuters.
The letter detailed MAXXI's history of partnerships with these companies. This fall, Eni supported a commission produced by MAXXI for Italian artist Maurizio Nannucci at the Gazometro G3 at the Eni Complex in Rome. The artists also cited four Israel-related programs organized by MAXXI in recent years as evidence of the institution's support for Israel, including the 2018 exhibition "Tel Aviv, The White City" and a February 2024 event titled "7 October 2023: Israel burns."
"Far from isolated cases, such deeply troubling practices are part of a broader and persistent pattern of institutional choices which reveal the museum's role in legitimizing zionist propaganda and narratives that enable the systematic erasure of Palestinian culture, history and life," the artists stated. "We find this an unacceptable context in which to present our work."
Five anti-Zionist activist groups – Galassia Antisionista, Vogliamo TuttAltro, BDS Roma, Il Campo Innocente, and ANGA – added their own statement to support the artists' withdrawal. They noted that Italy ranks as the third-largest arms supplier to Israel, following the United States and Germany, according to a 2024 SIPRI study.
"We will not allow our work to serve institutions supporting and whitewashing the destruction of communities, the desertification of ecosystems, and the denial of Palestinian rights," the activist groups wrote. "Art is not neutral. Artists should not collaborate with MAXXI as long as the museum does not take a clear and public position against the genocide and cut partnerships with entities profiting from the zionist colonization of Palestine."
These groups launched a broader boycott of several Italian cultural institutions in April, targeting not only MAXXI but also the art fair Miart and Rome's Palazzo delle Esposizioni museum. The coordinated campaign represents a significant challenge to Italy's major cultural institutions.
Despite the public announcements, it remains unclear whether the artists' works will actually be removed from the exhibition. ARTnews reported that multiple requests for confirmation and comment to MAXXI went unanswered, leaving questions about the practical impact of the withdrawal on the show's presentation.
In their concluding statement, the withdrawing artists called for broader action against the museum. "In light of MAXXI's position and affiliations, we cannot in good conscience collaborate with such an institution and have therefore collectively withdrawn from the exhibition," they declared. "This decision underscores our conviction that, as artists, we must take responsibility for the injustices our work might otherwise be used to justify, legitimize and art-wash."
The artists emphasized that their protest extends beyond immediate concerns, stating that "the struggle for Palestinian liberation does not end with the so-called current peace plan, used as a thinly veiled pretext for continued oppression and colonial expansion." They urged others to join their boycott until MAXXI "unequivocally denounces Israel's genocide in Gaza and the colonization of Palestine, and commits to severing all ties with companies complicit in crimes against humanity."
