The European Union is suspending a €2 million grant to the Venice Biennale due to Russiaʼs participation in this yearʼs exhibition.
This is reported by the German news agency dpa, citing the words of the European Commission spokesman (his name is not mentioned there, but European Truth writes that it is about Tom Rainier).
This decision was made by the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture.
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.
Russiaʼs participation in the Venice Biennale
Russia was a regular participant in the Venice Biennale, but its participation was canceled in 2022. This year, the Russian Federation returned to the exhibition — 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".
Later, European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkunen and European Commissioner Glenn Micallef spoke out against Russiaʼs participation. Subsequently, the culture ministers of 22 European countries signed a joint appeal against Russiaʼs return to this yearʼs Venice Biennale.
In addition, nine days before the opening of the 61st Venice Biennale, the exhibition jury reported a collective resignation in support of the decision not to consider Russia and Israel among the contenders for the main awards — the Golden Lion and Silver Lion. The leaders of these countries are accused by the International Criminal Court of crimes against humanity.
Later, the organizers of the Venice Biennale announced in an official statement that they had changed the format of the awards ceremony after the jury resigned. They decided that the winners of this yearʼs exhibition would be chosen by visitors who were on location.
To this end, two new awards have been introduced — "Visitorsʼ Lions". They will be awarded to the best participant in the main exhibition and for the best national participation.
Separately, the organizers of the biennale emphasized that all national pavilions are admitted to the evaluation "on the basis of inclusiveness and equal treatment", and the biennale itself should remain "a space of truce in the name of art, culture, and creative freedom". So Russia and Israel will again be able to compete for the main awards. The awards ceremony was also postponed from May 9 to November 22, the last day of the exhibition.
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