Cultural workers affiliated with the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) plan to protest during United States Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta’s scheduled visit to Venice on Friday, July 17.
In the wake of its historic demonstrations in support of Palestine on May 8, the last preview day of the 61st Venice Biennale, ANGA will mobilize en masse on the day Fertitta — a billionaire Trump ally — plans to park his 384-foot superyacht in the Italian city as part of a months-long cruise around the country in “celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.”
On Instagram, ANGA said it is staging a protest commencing in Venice’s Campo San Zaccaria because “the United States continues to arm, finance and politically shield Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”
“Today, that same complicity docks in Venice in the form of a Trump ambassador celebrating ‘American values’ aboard a $450 million superyacht,” the post continued, citing the reported estimated price of Fertitta’s vessel.
ANGA has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Next Friday’s action comes two months after ANGA led the first-ever cultural workers’ strike in the Venice Biennale’s 131-year history in May. Workers from Venice’s cultural sector decried Israeli participation in the international art event amid its crimes in Gaza in a mass mobilization that caused dozens of national pavilions to shutter as protesters marched carrying messages that included “no artwashing genocide.”
ANGA also participated in a national cultural strike on June 12 that demanded “fair work and fair pay” and condemned Israel’s violence in Gaza.
This year’s Biennale saw ongoing controversy over the inclusion of Israel in the Arsenale, which garnered criticism from 240 biennale artists and arts workers who sought to overturn Israel’s participation in an ANGA-led missive. In 2024, during the previous edition, ANGA launched an open letter opposing Israel’s participation that was signed by more than 22,000 people.
“We refuse the cultural normalisation of genocide. We refuse the militarisation of our cities. We refuse the capture of Venice by oligarchs, war profiteers and the representatives of imperial power,” ANGA wrote in its recent post.
“From the boycott of the Genocide Pavilion to the protest against Fertitta, our message remains the same: no business as usual with genocide,” the group continued.
