Protests as Venice Biennale opens in turmoil over Russia’s presence

VENICE - Bare-breasted activists protested at the Venice Biennale on May 6, incensed over the return of Russia to the prestigious art festival for the first time since the Ukrainian war broke out.

The world’s largest contemporary art exhibition, which takes place every two years in the Italian canal city, has been hit by resignations, boycotts and threats to cut funding over Russia’s inclusion.

Wearing pink balaclavas, baring their breasts and setting off pink smoke bombs, Ukrainian feminist collective Femen and Russian protest punk band Pussy Riot demonstrated outside the Russian pavilion at the start of the May 6 press previews.

“We are here to remind that the only Russian culture, the only Russian art today is blood,” Femen activist Inna Shevchenko told reporters.

“This pavilion stands on Ukrainian mass graves,” she said, adding that it was the first time the two groups had staged a joint protest.

Russia’s inclusion for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine sparked outrage from Italy’s government and the European Union, which threatened to cut €2 million (S$2.9 million) in funding from the Biennale.

The Biennale jury last week resigned after saying they would not hand out awards to countries led by figures subject to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – meaning Russia and Israel.

In the end, the Russian pavilion will not be open to the public during the Biennale, which runs from May 9 to Nov 22.

Instead, musical performances for the exhibit – “the tree is rooted in the sky” – will be recorded during this week’s press previews and later projected on giant outdoor screens.

Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, who has defended Russia’s inclusion, told reporters that organisers “cannot boycott as an automatic response”.

“If the Biennale were to start selecting not works but affiliations, not visions but passports, it would cease to be what it has always been: the place where the world comes together, and all the more so when the world is torn apart,” he said.

Other countries involved in conflict are represented in Venice, including the US and Israel, which attacked Iran in late February. Iran had been due to attend, but pulled out.

About a hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in front of Israel’s pavilion on May 6, holding up banners saying “No artwashing genocide”.

EU opposition

In 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the artists and curators in the Russian pavilion withdrew from the Biennale in protest, while organisers banned Russian government officials.

In 2024, Russia was not invited.

After Russia’s inclusion this year, a group of European culture and foreign ministers wrote to Mr Buttafuoco condemning Moscow’s presence was “unacceptable” given the ongoing war.

The European Commission later said it intended to “suspend or terminate” its grant of two million euros over three years.

“Cultural events funded by European taxpayers’ money should safeguard democratic values, foster open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression – values which are not respected in today’s Russia,” a spokesman said.

The EU last week wrote again to the Italian government to request clarification on the conditions under which the Russian delegation was being hosted, amid concerns of a breach of European sanctions on Moscow.

Award ceremony postponed

Russia’s ambassador to Italy, Mr Aleksei Paramonov, said the live performances would not be allowed beyond the press previews because of the sanctions.

In a statement on Facebook, he said there was “truly something painful and unreasonable about the European Union’s obsession with targeting Russian culture and art with sanctions and restrictions of all kinds.”

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli has from the outset expressed Rome’s opposition to Russia’s inclusion, and said he would not be going to Venice.

As a result of the jury’s resignation and the “exceptional nature of the ongoing international geopolitical situation”, organisers have postponed the award ceremony from May 9 to Nov 22, the last day of the exhibition.

The Biennale said it would hand out two awards, in which visitors can vote, one of which can be won by any national participant – including Russia.

This followed the “principle of inclusion and equal treatment”, it said in a statement. AFP