Durational performance
Foyer of the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM)
Starting: Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at 7 p.m.
Moderna galerija Ljubljana is joining five international art institutions that, from 22 September onwards, will live-stream the latest performance by the renowned Spanish artist Santiago Sierra. The performance, Israeli State Crimes in Palestine Since 14 May 1948, takes the form of a continuous reading of the names of Palestinians killed in historic Palestine by the Israeli state, its armed forces and settlers since the establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948.
The performance is organised and curated by the London-based organisation A/POLITICAL, together with curator, artist and performer Maricel Álvarez. The project has been developed in collaboration with a research institution based in Palestine, which has requested anonymity.
The names have been compiled from established sources, including lists produced by the Ministry of Health in Gaza and made available through Iraq Body Count, B’Tselem, the Palestinian Information Centre via the Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA), The Shireen Observatory, and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre. The research also draws on historical monographs and other scholarly publications, academic journals including the Journal of Palestine Studies, United Nations documentation, legal records, published registers, archival material and other publicly available sources.
These records exist primarily thanks to the work of Palestinians and their commitment to documenting and preserving the memory of the lives and deaths of their people. A/POLITICAL emphasises that, despite collaborating with journalists, scholars and historians to compile as comprehensive and accurate a list as possible, gaps inevitably remain due to the ongoing occupation, displacement, destruction of archives and limited access to documentation. Where a victim’s identity has not been recorded, the individual will be represented by the Arabic word مجهول (Majhul), meaning “Unknown”.
In the context of the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the continued discovery of names and documentation, the list cannot be understood as a definitive or complete record, but rather as part of an ongoing process of gathering and verifying information, intended to honour as many victims as possible. At the start of the performance, a detailed methodology defining the scope and parameters of the research will be published, together with a complete list of sources. The list of names read during the performance will be made publicly available after it concludes.
The performance will begin on 22 September at 6 p.m. local time at A/POLITICAL, 6 Stannary Street, London. It will be broadcast around the clock via the A/POLITICAL website and live-streamed across an international network of museums and art institutions.
The live stream at the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM) will begin on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at 7 p.m. in the museum foyer, in the space dedicated to the Commentary series. The stream will run continuously, twenty-four hours a day. Visitors will be able to watch the performance during the museum’s opening hours; on the opening day, the museum will remain open until 9 p.m.
Israeli State Crimes in Palestine Since 14 May 1948 follows the methodology of Sierra’s work The Names of Those Killed in the Syrian Conflict Between the 15th March 2011 and the 31st December 2016 (2017) and is the latest work in a series that also includes 1549 State Crimes (2007), a public reading of the names of disappeared and murdered Mexican activists; 2205 State Crimes (2015), a public reading of the names of people killed during the Israeli assault on Gaza in July and August 2014, including Palestinians and Israelis; and 697 State Crimes (2018), a public reading of the names of Palestinians killed in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict between 26 July 2014 and 30 August 2018.
In his minimalist presentation of time and scale, Sierra draws on On Kawara’s project One Million Years. He has employed a similar duration-based approach in previous works, including the 2004 performance 120 Hours of Continuous Reading of a Telephone Book.
The performance was created on the occasion of Santiago Sierra’s exhibition DEATH & MONEY, curated by A/POLITICAL and on view at Brutus in Rotterdam from 20 September to 20 December 2026. In addition to Moderna galerija (MG+MSUM), the international live stream will be hosted by the BPS22 Museum in Belgium, ICA in Bulgaria, SAW in Canada, Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende in Santiago, Chile, and Rua Red in Dublin.
With this project, MG+MSUM continues its series of events in support of Palestine.
SANTIAGO SIERRA
Santiago Sierra was born in Madrid in 1966, where he lives and works. He studied Fine Arts at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg (HFBK) between 1989 and 1991, as well as at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City between 1995 and 1997. He has carried out provocative actions around the world. Influenced by the formal language of the minimal and conceptual art movements of the 1960s and 70s, Santiago Sierra’s work addresses the hierarchies of power and class that operate in our modern society and everyday existence.
A/POLITICAL
Founded in 2013, A/POLITICAL supports artistic practices that test the limits of society’s aesthetic, political and moral boundaries. Centred around a collection of international socio-political art, A/POLITICAL provides the space necessary for artists to operate outside of traditional institutions and commercial markets through acquisitions, large-scale commissions and legacy work with artists’ archives and estates.
BRUTUS
Brutus is an exhibition space where makers are given carte blanche to experiment with art. At Brutus you won’t find a white cube or sterile museum spaces, but raw industrial halls where no limits exist for either artists or visitors in experiencing exhibitions and art. This results in oversized installations, theatre productions, performances, film screenings, and big celebrations.
MARICEL ÁLVAREZ
Argentine performing artist, curator, and educator whose practice develops at the intersection of theatre, performance, dance, and visual arts. She has collaborated with renowned creators such as William Kentridge, Sophie Calle, Jérôme Bel, María Velasco, Santiago Sierra, and Alejandro González Iñárritu. She has starred in films screened at the world’s most renowned film festivals (Cannes Film Festival, Giornate degli Autori, San Sebastián Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival) and has presented her pieces, performances, and installations in theaters and museums across the Americas, Europe, and Japan—including Teatro Colón, Berliner Festspiele, Nave 10 Matadero Madrid, and Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City.
CREDITS
Investigative Research and Methodology Advisor: Matt Kennard.
Artistic Assistant: Martín Antuña.
Research and Data Analyst: Mohamed Elmaazi.
Transliteration: Amro Tabari and Shahd Dibas (creator of Maknuune, the open Palestinian Arabic lexicon).
Names read from Gaza in the period October 2023-May 2026 prepared by Iraq Body Count (IBC) from Gaza Ministry of Health information received 07 May 2026, and provided for this project on 5 August 2026.
