Israeli-Palestinian war spills into Swiss art world

Almusibli is a curator born and raised in Geneva and a co-founder of an independent project space, Cherish. Courtesy of Yumna Al-Arashi

The October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza have divided the art world. In Switzerland, the Kunsthalle Basel is defending its newly chosen director, who signed letters calling for a ceasefire. Other artists have publicly supported the right for Israel to defend itself.

Shortly after the Kunsthalle, one of the oldest contemporary art museums in the country, announced 33-year-old Mohamed Almusibli would take over the role of director next March, a local newspaper questionedExternal link the decision. It asked if it wasn’t problematic that Almusibli, a curator of part Yemeni heritage born in Geneva, had signed two open letters expressing sympathy with the Palestinians.

One letter, signedExternal link by more than 4,000 artists around the world, including actor Tilda Swinton and director Mike Leigh, accuses governments of “aiding and abetting” war crimes in Gaza and urges unhindered access for humanitarian aid as well as an immediate ceasefire.

The other letter, posted by the influential magazine ArtForum and with 8,000 signatures, demands that cultural institutions break their silence over the war and expresses support for “Palestinian liberation”.

Both letters did not mention the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, in which around 1,200 are estimated to have died. The ArtForum letter was later revised to include this.

The actor Tilda Swinton is among the high-profile artists that have signed an open letter launched by Artists for Palestine UK that demands an end to the “unprecedented cruelty being inflicted on Gaza”. Invision

In Basel, a cantonal parliamentarian from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, Joël Thüring, called Almusibli an “Israel hater” on X (formerly Twitter) and demanded that the local government withdraw funding from the Kunsthalle if the museum did not annul his appointment.

The controversy, which broke out last week, highlights the divisions within the art world over the ongoing war. Some artists and institutions are expressing support for Palestinians, while others are backing Israel’s right to self-defence.

Silence in literary world since October 7 attack

Open letters by Swiss artists reveal these tensions. One, launched by French-speaking artists, expressesExternal link sadness and desperation at the loss of lives from the October 7 attacks but says the horror of those attacks “does not justify in any way this new massacre”, referring to the bombings in Gaza by Israeli forces. To date, more than 12,000 people have died in Gaza, authorities there say.

The letter then calls for an immediate ceasefire and asks the government in Bern to “end all military cooperation with the state of Israel and to defend the implementation of the Geneva Conventions” in the Middle East. The Swiss government has repeatedly called on “all parties to comply” with international humanitarian law since the war began.

Other artists have taken an openly pro-Israeli stance. Writers in Switzerland, Germany and Austria have signedExternal link a letter in solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people, and condemned anti-Semitism. “We see the suffering of Palestinian civilians and demand humanitarian aid, but we oppose using the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip to relativise Hamas’ terror and de-legitimise Israel’s self-defence,” say the signatories.

They say silence has blanketed the literary world since October 7: are writers, they ask, too fearful to make a mistake or to make themselves vulnerable by speaking out?

Some institutions are removing themselves from any situation that might ignite a backlash. The German literary organisation LitProm decided soon after the October 7 terrorist attacks to postpone giving a prize to Palestinian novelist Adania Shibli at the Frankfurt Book Fair – a move that was criticised in a letter signed by more than 1,500 writers, Nobel Prize winners among them.

Meanwhile the Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei has seen his shows cancelled in Paris, London and New York after posting on social media about “Jewish influence” on United States decisions to support Israel.

‘No room for a nuanced discussion’ on Israel and Palestine

In Switzerland, Turkish pianist Fazil Say was to play in concerts organised by major retailer Migros at the end of October. But Migros, which funds numerous cultural events in the country, withdrew its invitation. At issue was a post on X by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, retweeted by Say, that blames Israel for a deadly rocket attack on Al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip.

Migros toldExternal link Swiss public radio SRF that Say’s position was “untenable”. Say, for his part, said he thought freedom of expression meant something in Europe and that all his public statements were made in the spirit of peace.

Pianist Fazil Say has seen his invitation to play in Switzerland withdrawn after he made public comments on the ongoing war. Keystone / Angelika Warmuth

Making their opinions known has cost some cultural figures their jobs, notably David Velasco, the ArtForum editor-in-chief, who was firedExternal link after the publishers said posting the open letter “was not consistent with [the magazine’s] editorial process”. Others have chosen to leave of their own accord, as was the caseExternal link for committee members of the prestigious contemporary art event Documenta in Germany. One of them, the art critic Ranjit Hoskoté, had previously made pro-Palestinian comments.

“It is clear to me that there is no room, in this toxic atmosphere, for a nuanced discussion,” he statedExternal link after resigning. “I am being asked to accept a sweeping and untenable definition of anti-Semitism that conflates the Jewish people with the Israeli state; and that, correspondingly, misrepresents any expression of sympathy with the Palestinian people as support for Hamas.”

Back in Basel, the Kunsthalle is standing its ground and refusing to walk back its appointment. The Basel Kunstverein (Basel Art Association), which manages the museum, issued a statement expressing shock at the sometimes “openly racist and hateful reactions”, adding, “We hope the Basel public will give Mohamed Almusibli the chance to prove his great talent as a curator.”

A petitionExternal link expressing support for the Kunsthalle and its future director has gathered close to 2,500 signatures from members of the art community.

For his part, Almusibli said he opposed anti-Semitism in all its forms, the BZ newspaper reportedExternal link, which added he had signed the letters out of “deep concern for the current suffering in the Middle East on all sides”.

Edited by Virginie Mangin