Visitors to the Arsenale may have been greeted by some grumpiness from the Guerilla Girls regarding the Biennale’s poor track record where women artists are concerned, but this was controversy lite compared to the rumpus over Gregor Schneider’s Venice Cube project. According to a single video projection in the Corderie, this black cube, inspired by the Ka’ba in Mecca and intended for installation in St Mark’s Square, was not only vetoed by the Biennale directors “for political reasons” but was not even permitted to be documented in the catalogue. Instead there are six black pages between 232 and 237 in Rosa Martinez’s volume. However, Davide Croff, president of the biennale, tells a different story. He says the work was blocked for “health and safety reasons”.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as ‘Gregor Schneider cries censorship'