Kazakhstan Pavilion Dispute at Venice Biennale Raises Fresh Censorship Questions
A controversy surrounding the Kazakhstan pavilion has become one of the Venice Biennale’s most closely watched disputes, after artist Äsel Kadyrhanova’s installation Machine (2013) was reportedly dismantled before the exhibition opened. The work, which addressed Stalin-era repression in Kazakhstan, was part of Qoñyr: The Archive of Silence, a presentation featuring nine Kazakh artists.
The dispute surfaced in a May 21 open letter published on e-flux and signed by prominent members of Kazakhstan’s art community. The letter alleged that Machine was dismantled on May 5 after negotiations between Kadyrhanova and pavilion curator Syrlybek Bekbota broke down. Signatories described the removal as censorship and called on Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture to apologize.
Accounts of who ordered the dismantling differ sharply. In a May 11 article in the Kazakh outlet Vlast, representatives of the Museo Storico Navale di Venezia, the Italian Navy-affiliated museum hosting the pavilion, denied involvement. D’Uva, the company managing the museum, said it had not imposed any restriction on Machine and had not requested that it be removed or left out of the exhibition. It also said it had received no instructions from Difesa Servizi S.p.A. which oversees properties belonging to the Italian Ministry of Defense, or from the Italian Navy.
A contract reviewed by adds another layer to the dispute. Signed on February 2 by D’Uva and a representative of the Kazakhstan pavilion team, it prohibited artworks considered “political, ideological,” or “propagandistic,” and gave D’Uva the right to require the “amendment, removal or non-exhibition” of content deemed incompatible with the agreement.
Bekbota said the pavilion team explored alternatives with Kadyrhanova, including a version in which documents referencing Stalin would be displayed upside down. He said the artist later restored the work to its original form, with all text legible, despite acknowledging the financial, legal, and organizational risks. In a Facebook statement, Bekbota said he ultimately made the decision to dismantle Machine in its original form and took full responsibility.
Danagul Tolepbay, the project’s co-commissioner, disputed D’Uva’s account, saying a representative had explicitly requested in two Zoom calls that Stalin not be mentioned. The episode has underscored how fragile the balance can be between institutional oversight and artistic speech, especially in a national pavilion shaped by both diplomacy and memory.
Kazakhstan’s Venice Biennale presentation is its third official national participation at the event, and the first time a Central Asian country selected its pavilion project through an open call.
