{"id":1818828,"date":"2026-03-09T15:56:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1818828"},"modified":"2026-03-09T15:56:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:56:35","slug":"venice-biennale-faces-mass-outcry-over-return-of-russian-pavilion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1818828","title":{"rendered":"Venice Biennale Faces Mass Outcry Over Return of Russian Pavilion"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tThe forthcoming Venice Biennale will see the first Russian Pavilion since the onset of the nation\u2019s war in Ukraine in 2022, and few outside Russia seem happy about it.<\/p>\n

\n\tUkraine itself issued a blistering statement about the pavilion this weekend, calling for the Biennale to exclude Russia this time around. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Venice Biennale is one of the world\u2019s most authoritative art platforms,\u201d Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in a statement posted to social media, \u201cand it must not become a stage for whitewashing the war crimes that Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian people and our cultural heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSybiha went on to say that Russia \u201copenly uses culture as an instrument of political influence,\u201d and he accused the Biennale of reneging on past support of Ukraine. He was likely referring to how, in 2022, the Biennale mounted a Ukraine-focused installation in the Giardini, the same park where Russia\u2019s pavilion is located. A statement from the Biennale explicitly denounced what the show described as a \u201cbrutal invasion by the Russian government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRussia has not participated in the Venice Biennale since 2019. In 2022, the pavilion was closed to the public. In 2024, the pavilion was opened\u2014but with Bolivia, a country that has sought to maintain diplomatic ties with Russia, showing there instead. For that reason, Russia has tried to claim that its 2026 pavilion, featuring a range of artists in a show curated by Anastasia Karneeva, not as a return but as part of an effort to continue \u201cseeking new forms of creative activity in the current circumstances,\u201d as one Russian official previously told ARTnews<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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The Venice Biennale is one of the world\u2019s most authoritative art platforms, and it must not become a stage for whitewashing the war crimes that Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian people and our cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

Since 2014, Russia has deliberately destroyed Ukraine\u2019s\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/8k18OTTNx6<\/p>\n

\u2014 MFA of Ukraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@MFA_Ukraine) March 8, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\n\tIn 2024, amid pressure to eject Israel and Iran, the Biennale stated that it does not have the power to exclude national pavilions because \u201call countries recognized by the Italian Republic may autonomously request to participate officially.\u201d For that reason, the Biennale claimed, it cannot \u201ctake into consideration any petition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked about the new statements regarding Russia\u2019s 2026 participation, a Biennale spokesperson referred ARTnews<\/em> to a March 4 announcement containing a comprehensive list of all the nations with pavilions this year. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn response to the communications and requests for participation from Countries, La Biennale di Venezia rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art,\u201d the March 4 release reads. \u201cLa Biennale, like the city of Venice, continues to be a place of dialogue, openness, and artistic freedom, encouraging connections between peoples and cultures, with enduring hope for the cessation of conflicts and suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Biennale previously said in 2024 that the 2022 decision to close the Russian Pavilion was made by its curator, not the Biennale itself. That curator, Raimundas Mala\u0161auskas, withdrew alongside artists Kirill Savchenkov and Alexandra Sukhareva, who issued a joint statement in which they called the war in Ukraine \u201cpolitically and emotionally unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUkraine\u2019s statement coincided with the circulation of an open letter that similarly calls for Russia\u2019s pavilion to be nixed by the Biennale. Addressed to Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the letter alleges that the inclusion of Russia tarnishes the exhibition\u2019s image of being nonpartisan.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe claim that \u2018culture is above politics\u2019 is never neutral,\u201d that letter reads. \u201cIn the case of contemporary Russia, this formula has become a political instrument used to promote aggression and advance state agendas while disguising them behind the language of cultural exchange and dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the signatories are Pina Picierno, an Italian politician who serves as vice president of the European Parliament, and Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, a collector who runs an art space in Venice. Also among the signatories were artists Ragnar Kjartansson, Tom\u00e1s Saraceno, and Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of the dissident Russian collective Pussy Riot.<\/p>\n

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\n\tPussy Riot itself teased a protest against the Russian Pavilion, writing on Instagram, \u201cPussy Riot is coming to Biennale with an intervention. We want to express unconditional support for Ukraine, for the victims of Russian war crimes, for Russian political prisoners, and for Ukrainian prisoners of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThese statements come following a denouncement from Lithuanian foreign affairs minister K\u0119stutis Budrys, who wrote last week on social media, \u201cThere can be no return to business as usual with a murderer and a terrorist.\u201d He called the Biennale\u2019s choice to let Russia participate \u201cabhorrent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUpdate, 3\/9\/26, 2 p.m.:<\/strong> This article has been updated with a comment from a Biennale spokesperson.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/venice-biennale-russia-pavilion-return-controversy-1234776355\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1240129621.jpg?w=1024″] The forthcoming Venice Biennale will see the first Russian Pavilion since the onset of the nation\u2019s war in Ukraine in 2022, and few outside Russia seem happy about it. Ukraine itself issued a blistering statement about the pavilion this weekend, calling for the Biennale to exclude Russia this time around. \u201cThe Venice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1818828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1818828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1818828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1818828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1818828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}