Last year, amid one of the world’s most dire humanitarian crises, a group of Palestinian artists launched the Gaza Biennale to uplift creativity while resisting the region’s ongoing genocide. Today, the collective has grown to encompass more than 60 artists, with decentralized events taking place at 19 venues around the world. On September 10, the biennale will unveil its latest exhibition in New York.
Staged at Recess, a non-profit art space based in Brooklyn, the Gaza Biennale will be on view in its entirety for five days before opening an abbreviated version through December 20. The New York pavilion follows international presentations in cities such as Athens, Istanbul, London, and Valencia, this time gathering works from 22 artists across media like painting, video, and conceptual installation. Rather than following a fixed, predetermined format, the exhibition has been curated in response to its specific context, offering viewers a “unique opportunity to engage with work in a more immediate and timely manner,” per Recess.
“The Biennale invites us to engage with art’s capacity to reflect an unimaginable present, to defy all challenges, and to build a global movement,” a spokesperson for Recess said in a statement.
The exhibition arrives nearly two years after Israel launched its initial attacks on Gaza, which, according to recent reports, have significantly escalated. Last month, UNICEF announced that child fatalities in the West Bank have increased by 180% since October 2023, while the UN’s Human Rights Office has found that close to 70% of verified victims over a six-month period were women and children. Following Israel’s aid blockade on March 2, 2025, famine has dramatically increased in Gaza, with nearly one in five children under 5 years old being acutely malnourished. Altogether, almost 84,000 people have died in Gaza between October 2023 and early January 2025, an independent survey reported.
Gaza’s very culture has been under threat as well. By May 2025, Palestinian experts and British archaeologists concluded that more than two-thirds of Gaza’s heritage and cultural sites have been damaged, including universities, mosques, and libraries. The Gaza Biennale seeks to rectify this incredible cultural erasure, safeguarding Palestinian art, culture, and memory through its global exhibitions.
“The significance of this project lies in its ability to place art at the forefront of a global awakening, to challenge the art field to reckon with the weight of genocide, and to present a model of resilience, and fulfill a desperate need to recognize that the depth and complexity of human life,” a spokesperson for the biennale said in a statement. “The right of a people to exist with dignity on their land is fundamental to the purpose of art itself.”
Last December, My Modern Met had the opportunity to interview three artists involved in the biennale, each of whom emphasized how essential it is to continue creating, especially amid the genocide.
“Despite the collapse of all aspects of life and the lack of essential materials needed to create our art, we are still producing sketches and artworks,” Maysa Yousef said. “They might be simple, but they are born from nothingness, from what remains around us.”
Ahmed Adnan echoed the sentiment: “Art is a third lung. It is as integral to Gaza as the rest of the world.”
The Gaza Biennale is launching its New York pavilion this September at Recess in Brooklyn.
The exhibition will feature artwork by 22 Palestinian artists, and follows other interventions staged by the collective in cities around the world.
Exhibition Information:
Gaza Biennale
September 10–14, 2025
September 18–December 20, 2025
Recess
46 Washington Avenue Brooklyn, NY, USA 11205
Sources: About Gaza Biennale; Recess: Gaza Biennial 2025; Gaza Biennale, featuring works by artists from the war-torn strip, will come to New York City
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