The Venice Art Biennale has been hit by a new storm over Russia's participation in the edition opening on May 9th. The International Jury has now distanced itself, "refraining from considering those countries whose leaders are currently accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court." This announcement excludes Moscow and Israel from the competition for the Golden and Silver Lions, which the Biennale is unfazed by.
"The Jury of the 2026 Venice Art Biennale, like all the juries of the Venice Biennale events, operates with full autonomy and independence of judgment in the exercise of its functions," the Venice Biennale's press office explained in a statement on the day Moscow also took a clear stance on the matter. "The revocation of funding for the Biennale is a relapse into anti-culture," thundered Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. An anti-culture that "has reignited in the West in recent years. They will never recover; they will become forever uncivilized," she said.
For the Biennale, the position of the all-female international jury is "a natural expression of the freedom and autonomy that the Biennale guarantees." President Solange Farkas and members Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi explain that they understand the "complex relationship between artistic practice and the representation of the state/nation that provides the central structure of the Venice Biennale," but assert that "in this edition of the Biennale, we wish to declare our intention to express our commitment to the defense of human rights in the spirit of Koyo Kouoh's curatorial project."
Thus, the participation of Russia and Israel, which has been strongly contested in recent weeks, is weakening. An attempt to rebalance the situation has also come from the Biennale itself in recent days, announcing a pre-opening event under the banner of dissent and peace, featuring Russian dissident director Alexander Sokurov, Golden Lion for Best Film in 2011 with Faust, and Palestinian writer and architect Suad Amiry.
