The world’s most important art festival is falling apart – and Russia and Israel are at the center of the crisis

Tension is so great that even Italy’s Minister of Culture is furious, having refused to speak at the opening of the event

When the world’s most prestigious international art exhibition, the Venice Biennale, opens its doors next week, it will do so amid a series of crises.

He will not receive the usual blessing from Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuili, who, along with a growing number of people and organizations, is furious about Russia’s return to the event given the course of its war with Ukraine. More than 200 participating artists, curators and workers signed an open letter last month demanding that the Venice Biennale exclude the Israel pavilion due to human rights violations in Gaza. Another letter followed, which included naming those due to their war in Iran. Most recently, following the abrupt dismissal of the five-member jury at the end of April, the Biennale’s illustrious awards program will be replaced by two Visitors’ Awards, with voting open to the public attending the official exhibitions.

Now in its 61st edition, the Biennale is a large-scale global presentation of contemporary art from 99 nations, exhibited primarily in permanent national pavilions spread across the Giardini della Biennale in Venice. The Biennale typically offers a series of Golden and Silver Lions, awarded by a jury, to both winning pavilions and individual participating artists. There have been cases of jury dismissals before, such as in 1968, when jury members abandoned their positions.

However, the absence of the Italian Minister of Culture at the official opening ceremony will constitute a notable novelty in the history of the Biennale, which this year begins on May 9th. Instead of presiding over the opening ceremony, Giuli announced that he would send inspectors to the main venue to “gather information about the reopening of the Russian Pavilion,” a spokesperson revealed to CNN.

While the Biennale has often seen world politics unfold between its pavilions, this year’s exhibition has been explicitly positioned to reflect the current geopolitical landscape. Koyo Kouoh, who had been chosen as chief curator — the first African woman to hold the position — had drawn up the general outline of the «In Minor Keys» exhibition, before being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, from which she died last year at the age of 57.

“In refusing the spectacle of horror, the time has come to listen to the minor keys, to tune in sotto voce to the whispers, to the lower frequencies; to find the oases, the islands, where the dignity of all living beings is safeguarded,” reads his original curatorial statement for ‘In Minor Keys’.

Instead, the Biennale Foundation, which organizes the event, sparked controversy by approving Russia’s participation in this year’s Biennale, saying in a statement that “no regulations were violated and sanctions against the Russian Federation were fully complied with, as is our duty.”

In addition to boycotting the Biennale, Giuli also demanded the dismissal of Tamara Gregoretti, the only representative of the Ministry of Culture on the foundation’s board of directors, for not having vetoed the decision, claiming that she had not alerted Italian government officials about the planned return from Russia and had “expressed support for her participation, despite being fully aware of the international sensitivity surrounding the issue”.

Gregoretti told CNN he had no intention of resigning but would have no further comment.

Internal revolt

The conflict over Russia and Israel revealed a division between the Biennale’s management and the members of the international jury, a rotating group of figures from the art world responsible for awarding the fair’s main prizes. It is unclear why the jury members — president Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma and Giovanna Zapperi — resigned, and following the Biennale’s announcement, a spokesperson declined to comment further.

Before resigning permanently, panel members had issued a statement in late April stating that they would not award artists from countries “whose leaders are currently accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.” This would have disqualified both Russia and Israel from receiving awards, as both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu face court arrest warrants.

“As members of the jury, we also have a responsibility towards the historical role of the Biennale as a platform that connects art to the emergencies of its time”, reads that same statement. “In this edition of the Biennale, we wish to express our intention — to express our commitment to the defense of human rights and to the spirit of Koyo Kouoh’s curatorial project.”

Russia last exhibited at the 2020 Venice Biennale, in a pavilion in the heart of the Giardini, which it has owned since 1914. Following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the curator and artists chosen to represent Russia that year withdrew in protest against their government’s actions. In the following Biennale, in 2024, Russia did not participate and instead ceded its pavilion to Bolivia.

When Russia applied to participate in 2026, with an exhibition entitled «The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky», it was accepted by the president of the Foundation, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, despite the war continuing unabated and the international sanctions in force against Russia.

Ukraine vehemently protested Russia’s inclusion in the Biennale. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on the organizers to reconsider the decision. “The Biennale must not become a stage for whitewashing the war crimes that Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian people and our cultural heritage,” said Sybiha.

The European Commission also condemned Russia’s inclusion and threatened to withdraw a $2 million grant for the Biennale as a whole if the decision was not reversed by May 11. “Culture promotes and safeguards democratic values, fosters open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression, and should never be used as a propaganda platform”, stated the European Commission in , considering the foundation’s decision “incompatible with the EU’s collective response to Russia’s brutal aggression”.

Amid growing controversy, Russia announced at the end of March that its pavilion would not be open to the public, although the press would have the opportunity to visit it between May 6 and 8. The pavilion became a site of protest against Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine.

During the last Art Biennale, participating Israeli artist Ruth Patir refused to open the exhibition at the National Pavilion, stating that the doors would remain closed until an agreement on the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza was reached. This year, the exhibition will not be presented at the Israel Pavilion, in the Giardiani, but in a smaller space nearby, in the Arsenale neighborhood, in Venice.