Venice Biennale: the jury resigns after the controversy over the presence of Russia at the festival

The international jury for the next Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, which will be held from May 9 to November 22, resigned Thursday after the controversy arising from the organizers’ decision to authorize Russia’s participation, said the Italian body. The global resignation comes a week after the jury announced it would exclude Russia and Israel from the awards, due to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants for war crimes against their leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being prosecuted by the ICC for the alleged war crime of “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under arrest warrant issued in 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. The Biennale – the largest international art exhibition in the world – affirmed last week that the “jury (would) refrain from evaluating (the works of) countries whose leaders are currently indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court”.

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After the announcement of this resignation, the organizers of the event claimed to have “decided” that the awards ceremony would take place on November 22 and not May 9 as initially planned, and that two prizes would be awarded. According to them, one of the two prizes could be won by all “national participations included in the official list of the 61st Exhibition”, “following the principle of inclusion and equal treatment”which includes Russia.

Government opposition

“It is consistent with the founding spirit of the Biennale, based on openness, dialogue and the refusal of any form of closure or censorship”declare the organizers in a press release. “The Biennale intends to be, and must remain, a place of truce in the name of art, culture and artistic freedom”they emphasize. The announcement at the beginning of March of Russia’s participation was strongly criticized by Ukraine and the European Union. Brussels had even threatened to cut funding. The Italian government, via its Ministry of Culture, assured him that this decision had been taken “in complete independence by the Biennale Foundation, despite the opposition of the Italian government”.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reiterated Thursday that her government was not “disagree with the decision” taken by the president of the Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. “I would not have made this choice myself”she insisted during a press conference, while recalling that the Biennale was “an independent body”. Nearly 40 Russian artists are expected to take part in the exhibition «The tree is rooted in the sky» (“The tree is rooted in the sky”editor’s note) which will be hosted in the Russian pavilion, located in the gardens of the Biennale.

Ukrainian and Belarusian artists – Minsk being a close ally of Moscow – will also be present in Venice, as well as Iranian, Israeli and American artists. The Biennale had banned the participation of anyone linked to the Russian government in 2022, in protest against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was also absent from the next edition in 2024. The Venice Biennale is today a major event for contemporary art with the Documenta in Cassel in Germany. For six months, it attracted more than 600,000 visitors.