Entertainment · Books & Arts · 4 hrs ago
Gabrielle Goliath’s Elegy brings its lament over killings to London
Gabrielle Goliath’s Elegy is showing at Ibraaz, a cultural centre in London.
The three films show women singing a single note, with another singer taking over when the first can no longer continue.
The work honours people killed in South Africa, Namibia and Gaza, including South African woman Ipeleng Christine Moholane and Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada.
A panel of South African cultural figures chose it to represent the country at the Venice Biennale.
South Africa’s sports, arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, called the work divisive and sought to have its reference to Abu Nada removed.
Goliath refused, and McKenzie cancelled the pavilion; a South African high court dismissed her challenge.
The work is now being shown in London, where its mourning is also presented as a demand for change and justice.
Gabrielle Goliath’s three-film work Elegy is being shown at Ibraaz, a cultural centre in London’s Fitzrovia.
The work commemorates people killed in South Africa, Namibia and Gaza through women sustaining single notes of mourning.
Goliath’s work was selected to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale, but the country’s culture minister cancelled the pavilion after she refused to remove a passage about a Palestinian poet.
A South African high court dismissed Goliath’s case against the cancellation.
The work is presented as a protest against violence and a call for change and justice.
- Who
- Artist Gabrielle Goliath created Elegy, which features women singing sustained notes.
- What
- The three-film work commemorates victims of killings and genocide. It is being shown at Ibraaz in London.
- When
- The London exhibition is covered in an article published on 12 October 2026. The films include events dating from 1904 to deaths in Gaza since 2023.
- Where
- Ibraaz, in Fitzrovia, London.
- Why
- The work mourns people killed through femicide, colonial violence and violence in Gaza, and calls for change and justice.
Gabrielle Goliath
Gayton McKenzie
Palestinian poet passage
Gabrielle Goliath
Goliath refused to remove the passage about the Palestinian poet.
Gayton McKenzie
McKenzie called for the passage to be removed.
South African Venice pavilion
Gabrielle Goliath
Goliath challenged the cancellation in court.
Gayton McKenzie
McKenzie cancelled the pavilion, describing the work as highly divisive.
highly divisive
Two women died at the hands of German colonial oppressors during the genocide in Namibia.
Ipeleng Christine Moholane was strangled and left for dead in a field near Johannesburg.
Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada died; the work also commemorates Palestinians killed in Gaza since 2023.
A panel selected Goliath’s work to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale.
McKenzie cancelled the Venice pavilion after Goliath refused to remove a passage about the Palestinian poet; a South African high court dismissed her case.
The Guardian reported on Elegy’s showing at Ibraaz in London.
- Artist
- Gabrielle Goliath
- Work
- Elegy
- London venue
- Ibraaz, Fitzrovia
- Films
- Three
- South African minister
- Gayton McKenzie
- Article publication date
- 12 October 2026
Sources
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