Germany warns Goethe-Institut over exhibition with Palestinian artist
04.04.2026, dpa
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
The German Foreign Office has criticized the country's own cultural organization, the Goethe-Institut, over the participation of a US-Palestinian artist in a recent exhibition in Lithuania with German funding.
“There should be no doubt whatsoever at events organized by German intermediary organizations that the federal government firmly rejects anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday in response to a report in the Bild tabloid.
It was made clear to the Goethe-Institut - which is largely funded by the Foreign Office - that "greater care is required in the early stages of planning and organizing events with partner organizations," the ministry added.
The exhibition "Bells and Cannons – Contemporary Art in Times of Militarization" ran from mid-October to early March in Vilnius and featured a film by Basma al-Sharif, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian artist currently based in Berlin.
The filmmaker's appearance at the Dusseldorf Art Academy in western Germany earlier this year was the subject of a controversy after Jewish organizations accused her of anti-Semitic posts online.
The exhibition in the Lithuanian capital was a collaboration between the Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius (CAC), the Goethe-Institut in Vilnius and the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
The CAC curated the exhibition, a spokeswoman for the Goethe-Institut confirmed, adding that "no works with anti-Semitic content were on display."
However, she said some posts on the artist’s Instagram account were not compatible with the Goethe-Institut’s values, "specifically the denial of Israel’s right to exist."
The cultural organization had not been aware of the posts. "We deeply regret this," the spokeswoman added.
She said the Goethe-Institut rejects any form of anti-Semitism, and sees the recognition of Israel’s right to exist as indispensable.
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