Jewish donors livid over tone deaf Art Gallery of NSW’s gabfest guest a day after massacre anniversary

Sydney biennale director Hoor Al Qasimi. Picture: Dan Boud

Oh, here we go again. Another arts institution getting its timing spectacularly wrong.

To wit, the Art Gallery of NSW, which has decided that next month is the perfect moment to host an “in conversation” event between its leader, Maud Page, and Sydney biennale director Hoor Al-Qasimi. Two grandees of contemporary art basking in their own magnificence before a paying audience. Lovely.

Except, of course, it’s not lovely at all. It’s a disaster. The event is scheduled for October 8 – the day after the second anniversary of the October 7 massacres in southern Israel.

And the star guest, Al-Qasimi, just happens to have spent much of her adult life cheerleading for Palestinian resistance while taking potshots at Israel.

Naturally, the gallery’s donor circle is fuming. And not just the small-fry benefactors who chip in for a mention in the annual report. We’re talking heavy hitters – the cornerstone philanthropists, their names practically chiselled into the sandstone on Art Gallery Road.

One such donor, who asked to remain anonymous, has raised a minor hell about it.

And rightly so given what we know about Al-Qasimi.

Art Gallery of New South Wales director Maud Page. Picture: Christian Gilles

In all likelihood you haven’t heard of her, because she’s not exactly a household name in Australia. But she’s a big deal in Sharjah, the third-most populous city in the UAE.

Her father, Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, has been the ruler there since 1972. He’s got some views on Israel; once called Zionism a “cancerous growth” obstructing Arab unity.

His daughter isn’t openly antisemitic (because that would be frowned upon) but online she’s been known to press for boycotts of Israel and has variously described Israelis as “occupiers”, “abusers”, “enslavers,” and “slayers” of Palestinians. Subtle, if nothing else.

She rocked up this month to a Japanese arts festival clad in a black T-shirt that said “Palestine” across the front, told reporters that “none of us will be free until Palestine is free”, and casually dropped words like “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” to describe situations that, well, aren’t.

Javier Bardem can chuck on a keffiyeh and say the same on a red carpet in Los Angeles, but that doesn’t make it true.

And none of it would matter if Al-Qasimi were just some random firebrand. But she’s not. She’s a toweringly influential figure in Australian art right now, thanks to Barbara Moore, the CEO of the Sydney Biennale.

Sydney Bienniale chief executive Barbara Moore. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Moore, incidentally, sat on the panel that appointed Al-Qasimi to her current role as director of the Biennale. Which is all very cosy and mutually beneficial, given that just a few months earlier Al-Qasimi presented Moore with a shiny new title of her own: vice-president of the International Biennial Association, of which Al-Qasimi reigns supreme as president.

Back at the Art Gallery of NSW, staff are making their views on Israel perfectly clear. Senior curator Erin Vink has been busy on Instagram, posting gems like “F*** Israel, Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. The latter, for what it’s worth, has already been labelled a violent statement by none other than Dennis Richardson, the former head of ASIO.

Then there’s Justin Paton, the gallery’s head of international art, who’s been sharing images accusing Israel of deliberately targeting babies, children and civilians. The gallery, in a hopeless response, said it was committed to being “an inclusive and safe space for all”. In other words: take your concerns for a long walk off a short pier.

So, yes, not exactly ideal to be hosting Al-Qasimi on October 8. A terrible look (not that the gallery cares) – and a slap in the face to the gallery’s Jewish staff, its artists, donors and visitors.

Or maybe that’s the point? After all, nothing speaks to contemporary art like alienating half your audience.