Kazakhstan’s ministry removes Kadyrkhanova’s work from the Venice Biennale
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The Museo Storico Navale di Venezia did not demand the removal of artist Asel Kadyrkhanova’s work from the Kazakhstan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, contrary to what Kazakhstan’s ministry of culture had said before.
Last week, ahead of the exhibition’s opening, the work “Machine” by Kazakhstani artist Asel Kadyrkhanova was removed from the Kazakhstan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale – despite being earlier displayed in promotional materials.
The ministry of culture, which commissioned the exhibition, explained the removal referring to the agreement with the Museo Storico Navale di Venezia and the clause by which the artwork must not be of a political, ideological, or other nature. Kadyrkhanova’s work deals with the Red Terror and Stalinist repressions.
D’Uva, the company that manages the museum in Italy’s northeastern city, told Vlast in a written response that it disagreed with the ministry’s earlier statement that the removal of the work was “a violation of the agreement with the museum.”
“D’Uva S.r.l. did not impose any specific restriction concerning the artwork mentioned in your email, nor did it ever request its removal or non exhibition,” Ilaria D’Uva, the company’s CEO said in an emailed statement.
The company also clarified that they had not received any instructions, requests, or orders to prevent the exhibition of Kadyrkhanova’s work, either from Difesa Servizi S.p.A. (the company that manages the Italian ministry of defense’s property—Ed.) or from the Italian Navy.
The organizers of the Kazakhstan pavilion signed an agreement with D’Uva in January. The contract contains a “standard institutional clause” that the exhibited works and contents be compatible with the historical, institutional, and public nature of the venue, as well as respectful of the image and prestige of the Italian Navy, the Ministry of Defense, and the government agencies involved, and not be of a propagandistic nature.
“Such clause does not refer to any specific artwork, historical topic or geopolitical subject, nor does it specifically prohibit works dealing with complex or dramatic episodes of Soviet or Kazakh history, including the Stalinist repressions,” D’Uva said.
The company also stated that there have been no official or informal discussions regarding Kadyrkhanova’s work.
“D’Uva never issued any document, instruction or request of a censorial nature regarding the artwork,” the response states.
According to the company, the organizers of the Kazakhstan pavilion, together with the curatorial team and the ministry of culture of Kazakhstan, “autonomously decided not to exhibit the artwork within the framework of their own internal coordination process and without any involvement with the Museo Storico Navale di Venezia.”
“We therefore have no direct knowledge of what the organizers may have considered problematic regarding the original version of the artwork,” D’Uva noted.
The company emphasized that any attempt to attribute this decision to the museum, its managing company, or Italian state institutions “appears to be completely unfounded and devoid of any factual basis.”
The company added that the museum regularly hosts exhibitions and cultural projects dedicated to complex historical topics.
Kazakhstan’s ministry of culture stated that, in order to participate in Kazakhstan Pavilion, a new interpretation and “adapted version of the work” were to be created, and that the pavilion “is being implemented in accordance with an agreed-upon curatorial concept, which all participants were made aware of in advance.”
Kadyrkhanova earlier confirmed that the artwork had been removed from the exhibition by order of the ministry of culture following pressure on her to alter the work conceptually and stylistically. She also emphasized that no objections to the artwork had been raised by the Italian side.
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