Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree imposing sanctions on five Russian cultural figures linked to Russiaʼs participation in the 61st Venice Biennale. All of them justify aggression and spread Russian propaganda at international events.
This was reported by the Presidentʼs Office.
Among them is the daughter of the sanctioned Deputy General Director of Rostec, Anastasia Karneyeva, who has been the commissioner of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale since 2021 and will represent Russia there this year.
Also under sanctions is Putinʼs special representative for international cultural cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, who calls the Russian Federationʼs war against Ukraine an "important historical moment" and also states that Russiaʼs admission to the Venice Biennale is supposedly proof that Russian culture is not isolated.
The sanctions list also includes Russians who will participate in the Venice Biennale this year on behalf of the Russian Federation. Among them is violinist Valeria Oleinik, who has repeatedly visited temporarily occupied Crimea after 2014 to support the war against Ukraine.
As well as singer Ilya Tatakov, who participated in the creation of a propaganda film in the occupied part of the Donetsk region to popularize the ideas of the "Russian world", and vocalist Artem Nikolayev, who participated in propaganda events in Crimea last year.
Russiaʼs participation in the Venice Biennale
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”.
On March 10, European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkunen and European Commissioner Glenn Micallef spoke out against Russiaʼs participation. They called the decision to admit Russia incompatible with the EUʼs collective response to Russian aggression. If the Biennale Foundation does not reconsider, the European Commission may suspend or terminate its grant.
Subsequently, the culture ministers of 22 European countries signed a joint appeal against Russiaʼs return to this yearʼs Venice Biennale. The initiative was launched by the Latvian Minister of Culture Agnese Lace.
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