Artists pull out

Over the past two years, Italy has become a territory of uprisings in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The ongoing genocide in Palestine has become both a universal symbol and a call to action—a collective effort to reject the accelerating advance of global fascism and its culture of violence for profit, which sacrifices human lives and systematically defunds culture, research, welfare, and the environment, diverting economies toward rearmament and war.

Confronted with the complicity of the Italian government—the world’s third-largest arms exporter to Israel, after the United States and Germany [1]—researchers, students, dockworkers, railway and factory workers, academics, and cultural laborers have been breaking the silence, repeatedly coming together to bring the country to a standstill.

As cultural workers, we believe it is essential to expose the complicity of art institutions with the military-industrial complex, zionist propaganda, and the rise of far-right extremism in Italy, and around the world. For this reason, since last April, we have launched a boycott campaign against several Italian cultural institutions. Among these is MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, which has hosted multiple events that have contributed to legitimizing Israel’s policies of military occupation and apartheid [2]. Furthermore, MAXXI has a history of partnerships with companies directly involved in the genocide of the Palestinian people, such as Leonardo S.p.A., [3] Eni, [4] Med-Or Italian Foundation, [5]  e-GEOS, [6] and Telespazio. [7]

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. 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.

On October 29, MAXXI will inaugurate the 1+1: The Relational Years exhibition, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, which traces the 1990s generation that redefined art through social engagement and collective practices. However, in the current context, it has become untenable to work with the museum. 

What follows is a statement by international artists who, invited to take part in 1+1: The Relational Years, have collectively withdrawn their participation. They stand with us—in refusal, in resistance.

signed by
Galassia Antisionista, Vogliamo Tutt’Altro, BDS Roma, Il Campo Innocente, ANGA, Sale Docks

ARTISTS’ STATEMENT

As artists and cultural producers invited to participate in the exhibition 1+1: The Relational Years, 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. 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. We find this an unacceptable context in which to present our work.

We believe institutions must embody, in practice, the values they claim to uphold. By disregarding the alarm raised by a wide coalition of cultural workers in Italy, as well as by large sections of Italian society, MAXXI abdicates its public responsibility and deepens the harm inflicted on the very communities it purports to represent.

The refusal to sever ties with funding sources embedded in networks of destruction, suffering and death, and to clearly condemn the apartheid system and genocidal policies of the State of Israel, constitutes a political and moral failure that cannot be defended. At this historical juncture, neutrality is complicity. Taking a clear, unequivocal position is not optional; it is an ethical imperative.

We join fellow artists, cultural workers, colleagues, and comrades in Italy and beyond who refuse their labor to sustain a system built on the lie that we are divided and powerless. There are strength and joy in exercising noncompliance, in the collective power of resistance, and in insisting that change is not only possible but inevitable. Dignity and freedom lose all meaning when they are afforded to the few and denied to others. As history has shown, time and again, organized pushback and principled withdrawal can demand accountability and ignite real, lasting transformation.

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. 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 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. We must act accordingly to keep raising our voices—and make explicit where we stand, and what we oppose.

We call on art and cultural workers to join the boycott until the museum 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.

In solidarity, 

Phil Collins and Siniša Mitrović
Tania Bruguera
Alessandra Saviotti
Gemma Medina
Dora Garcia

* To join the boycott and sign this statement, you can contact the NERO editorial team or Galassia Antisionista.

[1] SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute).
[2] These include Tel Aviv, The White City (May 2018), an exhibition dedicated to Israel’s so-called “white city,” presented without any reference to the colonial context in which over 4,000 modernist buildings; the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the birth of the State of Israel (May 2023); the meeting Ninety-five per cent heaven, five per cent hell (November 2023); and the event 7 October 2023: Israel burns, curated by Fiamma Nirenstein (February 2024), in which the narrative of the conflict was highly one-sided, omitting the historical and current responsibilities of the Israeli government. Moreover, on Saturday, 4 October 2025, on the occasion of the national demonstration for the liberation of Palestine, MAXXI invited the public to celebrate its collaboration with Eni by presenting a work conceived specifically for the Gazometro G3 at the Eni Complex in Rome Ostiense.
[3] Leonardo S.p.a. is the largest arms manufacturer in the European Union, the second largest in Europe and the 13th largest in the world (source: SIPRI).
[4] Eni is a company that has agreements with Israel for gas exploration in Palestinian waters off Gaza and has provided oil to Israel throughout the genocide.
[5] Med-Or is the cultural foundation of Leonardo S.p.A., a leading global arms manufacturer and directly involved in the supply of military equipment to Israel.
[6] e-Geos is a company specializing in defense and intelligence products and a supplier to Frontex, the European agency responsible for violent rejections at the EU borders.
[7] Telespazio, controlled by Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%), is active in civil and military satellite systems. As part of the 2012 Italy-Israel agreements, it served as prime contractor for the OPTSAT-3000 satellite, part of an agreement that also included the supply to Israel of the M-346 and Italy’s purchase of two G550 CAEW “Eitam” radar aircraft, produced by IAI and Elta Systems. Thales, a Telespazio partner, supplied components for Israeli military drones (Heron TP and Hermes 900), deployed in the Gaza Strip, worth around EUR 2 million.

Artists and cultural workers in support of the boycott campaign:

Kate Dickie (Actress),
Lina Pallotta (Photographer),
Benedetta Casagrande (Artist, writer),
Flaminia Celata (Artist),
Collettivo Damp (Artistx),
Federico Aldovisi (Progettista),
Davide Savorani (Artist),
Dr Sharon Smith (Independent business owner),
Giulia Zorzi (Curator, founder of Micamera),
Chiara Pagano (Researcher, Artist),
Felice Moramarco (Curator),
Nicola Novello (Artist),
Elena Vaninetti (Independent curator),
Federico Vespignani (Photographer),
Sara Leghissa (Artist),
Sara Alberani (Independent curator),
Leonardo Falascone (Artist),
Francesca Floris (Film producer),
Chullu Agency,
Luigi Fiano (Photographer),
Ardesia Coco (Photographer),
Valeria Cherchi (Artist),
Sara Palmieri (Photographer),
Vaste Programme (Artist duo),
Glauco Canalis (Photographer),
Alice Albanese (Cultural worker, researcher),
Camilla Ferrari (Visual artist),
Salvatore Vitale (Artist, Researcher),
Claudia Ferrara (Set designer),
Maria Adele Del Vecchio (Artist),
Giulia Menicucci (Independent researcher),
Federica Piras (Cultural worker),
Emanuele Braga (Artist),
Giulia Crispani (Writer and Artist),
Roberta Donatini (Graphic designer and Teacher),
Marta Federici (Curator),
Flavia Prestininzi (Curator),
Camille Lévy Scarfati (Curator),
Federico Ciamei (Photographer),
Martina Giammaria (Photographer),
L/Atelier di Modica,
Fortunata Calabro (Curator and researcher),
Ariell Zéphyr (Artist and independent researcher),
Šumma ālu (Art Collective),
Greta di Poce (Artist, Independent researcher),
Serena Passos (Actress),
Kathrin Frank (Performer, film director),
Marta Scagliusi (Artist)