The European Union has said it may withdraw funding for the Venice Biennale if Russia hosts the exhibition, adding to anger over the country’s plans to exhibit at the world’s most important art show for the first time since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
EU Technical and Culture Commissioners Henna Virkkunen and Glenn Micallef said in a joint statement that hosting the Russian pavilion goes against the EU’s position on the country and that the war in Ukraine continues.
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“This decision by the Foundation Biennale is incompatible with the EU’s collective response to Russia’s brutal aggression,” they wrote. “If the Foundation Biennale proceeds with its decision to allow Russia to participate, we will examine further actions, including suspending or terminating ongoing EU funding to the Biennale Foundation.”
They called Russia’s war in Ukraine “illegal” and said, “Culture promotes and defends democratic values, promotes open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression and should never be used as a propaganda platform.”
art news The Biennale has been contacted for comment. It is unclear how much money the EU is providing for the Venice Biennale.
Asked about the Russian pavilion on Monday, the biennale directed art news A statement last week said the exhibition allows any country recognized by Italy to set up a pavilion and that the exhibition “rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art”.
This is the first time Russia has participated in the Biennale since 2019. In 2022, the museum closed after curators and artists decided to cease exhibitions. In 2024, Russia ceded its pavilion to Bolivia, which held its own exhibition there.
The 2022 Biennale appears to feature expressions of support for Ukraine. This edition features a special pro-Ukrainian exhibition in Giardini, one of the main venues of the Biennale. “The aim of the project is to give a voice to artists and the art community in Ukraine and beyond, to express solidarity with the Ukrainian people in the wake of the Russian government’s brutal invasion, and to create a space for debate, dialogue and support for Ukrainian culture,” the biennale said at the time.
The biennale has yet to take a stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the question of whether it is truly a nonpartisan entity has been at the center of an outcry from curators, artists and institutions calling for Russia to step down.
“The statement ‘culture over politics’ has never been neutral,” reads an open letter about the Russian pavilion, which now has more than 6,000 signatures. “In the case of contemporary Russia, this formula has become a political tool used to promote aggression and advance the national agenda while hiding it behind the language of cultural exchange and dialogue.”
Ukraine and Lithuania have also strongly called for the Biennale to drop Russia’s participation so that Russia can compete for one of the Biennale’s main prizes – the Golden Lion for Best National Participation.
An art space in Venice even weighed in on the matter. The Pinchuk ArtCentre, a space run by Ukrainian collector Victor Pinchuk, regularly organizes events under the auspices of the Biennale. The center said this week it was “shocked” by the decision to allow Russia to participate.
“Inaction does not equal neutrality,” Pinchuk Arts Center writes. “We therefore call on the Venice Biennale to take a clear position and reject the participation of the Russian Federation, thereby condemning its continuation of the illegal and aggressive war against Ukraine.”
