Over 50 artists and cultural figures have signed a letter calling for artists Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova to cancel their recently-opened exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, The Art Newspaper reports.
The exhibition is part of Chicago and Tolokonnikova’s ongoing project What if Women Ruled the World?, a collaborative physical and digital quilt that invites participants to submit their answers to the titular question and subsequent prompts, such as ‘would both women and men be gentle?…Would there be violence?’
The work, launched in 2022, builds on both artists’ lifelong activism. The American artist Judy Chicago was a prominent voice of second-wave feminism and founded the first Feminist Art Program in 1970 at Fresno State College. Nadya Tolokonnikova is a founding member of the Russian feminist protest and performance art collective Pussy Riot.
The letter states ‘We are writing to you, as artists whose work is deeply committed to social justice and feminism [who] seek to fight power and critique forms of oppression. We believe that Israel’s actions are in violation of the vision of the world that you promote through your art, and ask that you do not use your names and reputations to support those actions’, adding that ‘we question the nature of such an exhibition that claims to speak the language of feminism while ignoring the fact that Israel violates women’s rights every day. According to UN Women’s analysis from 19 May 2025, more than 28,000 women and girls have been killed in Gaza since October 2023… To speak about feminism within an institution of a state that perpetrates such atrocities while ignoring them is hypocrisy’ (via The Art Newspaper).
Tolokonnikova told The Art Newspaper that she helped launch What if Women Ruled the World but is not currently involved in the project or decisions about where the work is shown. A museum spokesperson said that the work was presented ‘with the artists’ permission, but without their direct involvement.’
Tania Coen-Uzzielli, director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, stated: ‘We too are horrified by the devastation and pain in Gaza and we use our platform to call for the end of the war and shine a light on its toll. However, we at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art reject the notion that cancelling exhibitions serves as a meaningful response to the destruction around us.’
