The Venice Biennale jury resigns after Russia and Israel are allowed to participate in the awards

The jury of the Venice Biennale resigned this Thursday after the controversy generated by the presence of Russia and Israel in the pavilions of the prestigious cultural institution during the 61st International Art Exhibition, which will begin on May 9.

As reported by the Italian newspaper ‘La Stampa’, the Biennale itself has reported this resignation through a statement, thus announcing the resignation of the president, Solange Farkas, and the rest of the jury, formed by the Australian Zoe Butt, the Spanish Elvira Dyangani Ose, the American Marta Kuzma and the Italian Giovanna Zapperi.

On April 23, the jury itself decided to exclude Russia and Israel from the awards, arguing that both countries have leaders “accused of crimes against humanity.” However, the management of the Biennale Foundation, headed by its president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, has been claiming that art should not exclude anyone and defending the opportunity to provide an artistic dialogue to countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine or Iran.

According to the Italian newspaper, the withdrawal of the veto had already generated strong discomfort in the European Union, which even threatened to withdraw subsidies. For his part, the Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, sent a team of inspectors to the Biennale on Wednesday to audit the management of the entity and, specifically, the admission criteria of the Russian pavilion.

Following the resignation of the jury, the Biennale has reaffirmed its commitment to the principles of “inclusion and equal treatment”, confirming that the competition is once again open to “all national entries” without exceptions.

As a consequence of this organizational change, the announcement of the winners, initially scheduled for May 9, has been postponed until November 22. This measure of delaying the list of winners only has the precedent of the 2021 edition, then marked by the restrictions of the pandemic.