EU threatens to stop funding Venice Biennale over Russiaʼs admission

European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkunen and European Commissioner for Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef threatened to stop funding the Venice Biennale due to the admission of Russians.

The joint statement of the officials was published on the European Commission website.

Virkunen and Micallef strongly condemned the Biennale Foundationʼs decision to allow Russia to open a national pavilion at this yearʼs exhibition — the first time since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"The European Commission has clearly stated its position on Russiaʼs illegal aggressive war against Ukraine. Culture promotes and defends democratic values, promotes open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression and should never be used as a platform for propaganda," the statement said.

The decision to admit Russia is called incompatible with the European Unionʼs collective response to Russian aggression. If the Biennale Foundation does not reconsider, the European Commission will consider further steps, including suspending or terminating the Foundationʼs grant.

• The Venice Biennale is one of the leading exhibitions of contemporary art, held every two years in Venice, Italy. The Biennale includes thematic exhibitions of contemporary art and national pavilions.
• Russia was a regular participant in the Venice Biennale, but its 2022 exhibition was canceled. This happened on February 27, a few days after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This year, the Russian pavilion was called The tree is rooted in the sky.
• Before that, the Russian delegate for international cultural exchanges and former Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvydkoy said that one of the messages of the pavilion was that “politics exists in temporal dimensions, while cultures communicate in eternity”.

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