The jury of the Venice Biennale announced that it will not consider Russia and Israel among the contenders for the main awards — the Golden and Silver Lions.
This is reported by the Italian publication Ansa.
The jury of the exhibition said in a statement that countries whose leaders are currently indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity will be excluded from consideration for the top awards. This includes Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Therefore, Russia and Israel were excluded from the competition for the Golden and Silver Lions. The decision was explained by the juryʼs feeling of obligation to "protect human rights". However, the pavilions of these countries will still participate in the exhibition.
The biennial press service emphasized that the jury acts independently of the organizers and has complete freedom in determining the laureates. At the same time, the organization does not interfere in the participation of national pavilions.
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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