Activists Stage Protest Calling on Attendees to Boycott Art Basel Until Miami Divests from Israel

A coalition of Miami-based advocacy groups staged a protest outside of the Miami Beach Convention Center on the second public day of Art Basel, calling for attendees to boycott the fair until the city of Miami and Miami Dade County divest from large-scale investments in Israel.

Cristina Rivera, an artist and technologist, told ARTnews that organizers are using Art Basel, one of Miami’s biggest tourist attractions, as a platform to amplify concerns about Israel’s war in Gaza. The artist said advocates take issue with Miami Beach’s investment in Israel Bonds, which the city doubled to $20 million last year, framing the protest as a way to oppose policies they associate with the ongoing violence in the Middle East.

Four advocacy groups organized Saturday’s protest, including South Florida’s Justice for Palestine chapter and a local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Hayley Margolis, an activist with JVP, told ARTnews that she hopes the demonstration challenges the public’s complacency around the carnage in Gaza. The action was concieved as part of the organization’s ongoing “Break the Bonds” campaign, which pushes communities and municipalities to divest from Israel bonds. (Palm Beach County has over $700 million invested in Israel bonds, as of April. Miami-Dade County has $76 million invested, as of October 2023.)

Around 30 to 50 protestors participated in the action and some activists unfurled a 50-foot banner reading “Let Palestine Live.” That banner, designed by Rivera, was on display at a similar protest during last year’s edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. The banner was fabricated by 13 queer artists with assistance from the Miami-based designer Chromat and was intended to cover the front of the convention center and to be visible from aerial views of the city.

The primary message, said Margolis, is that “business should not go on as usual at a fair as prominent as Art Basel.”

Organizers emphasized that they are not planning for arrests at the demonstration, with a legal team and observers in place to avoid conflict. The initiative comes after weeks of planning by Miami-based coalition members.

By 2 p.m., the protest already had significant police presence, with around 10 officers reportedly assigned to monitor the area and to restrict demonstrators from gathering at particular areas of the convention center. By 3 p.m., activists were relocated to a “designated free speech space” across the street from the fair’s main entrance after police threatened arrests.

Despite precautions, past protests have often resulted in incidents; at last year’s Art Basel protest, two participants were arrested. Rivera said that the participants had been arrested while crossing the street and added that one was targeted for wearing a hijab. (ARTnews could not confirm those details.)

This year’s protest also included a petition advocating for attendees to boycott Art Basel Miami Beach until the city of Miami and Miami Dade County divest from their Israel bonds. Released today, the document, which is circulating online via the platform Change.org had 57 signatories by 5 p.m..

This year’s fair is the 22nd edition. In 2021, it was estimated that Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week generate $400 million to $500 million in revenue annually.