The Venice Biennale organizers have faced widespread criticism after announcing their decision to allow Russian representatives to participate, writes Politico.
Russia will be allowed to participate in the art festival for the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Several countries have called on the organizers to reconsider the decision, and the European Union has threatened to withdraw funding for the biennale.
Organizers of the prestigious art event announced in early March that Russian representatives will be allowed to participate in the event, which will take place from May to November this year. The organizers of the Venice Biennale justified their decision by saying that they reject any exclusion or censorship in culture and art. Representatives of various countries participate in the biennial biennale, but after 2022, the path to the art festival was closed to Russia.
The Latvian Ministry of Culture has informed that the initiative, launched by the Latvian Minister of Culture Agnese Lāce, was supported within a few days by the ministers of 22 countries – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. The ministers of culture have called on the organizers to reconsider the participation of the Russian Federation. The letter states that, in response to the atrocities committed by Russia and the consequences of aggression on people and culture,
Moscow is still subject to EU and international sanctions, including in the cultural sphere,
imposed for violations of international law and Ukrainian sovereignty.
The letter also cites the position of artists and curators who, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, refused to participate in the Russian pavilion. As Russian-born artist Kirill Savchenkov, who withdrew from the pavilion with Aleksandr Sukharev and Lithuanian curator Raimunds Malašauskas, put it at the time: “There is no place for art when civilians are dying under rocket fire, when Ukrainians are hiding in bunkers, and when anti-Russian protesters are being silenced.”
Henna Virkkunen, the EC’s vice-president for technology and security, and Glenn Micallef, the EU commissioner for sport, said in a joint statement on the 10th of March that the bloc’s member states, institutions and organisations must comply with EU sanctions, and that the decision by the Venice Biennale organisers to allow Russia to return was at odds with the EU’s collective response to Moscow’s brutal aggression. The commissioners warned that if Russia were allowed to participate, further action would be taken, including suspending or cutting off EU funding for the festival.
The Italian Ministry of Culture has announced that it opposes the organizers’ decision. Russia, meanwhile, as expected, is happy with the opportunity given by the organizers of the Venice Biennale. Moscow has traditionally tried to use art, culture and sports as soft power weapons to end international diplomatic isolation.
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