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The Venice Art Biennale, held every two years, has historically asserted that art transcends politics.<\/p>\n
But because the event has also been dubbed the “Olympics of the art world” and each country’s pavilions serve as official state-sponsored platforms for displaying contemporary art, global politics will inevitably be drawn into the conversation.<\/p>\n
Koyo Koyo\u2019s posthumous works exhibition<\/h2>\n 100 countries are participating in this year’s event, which will be held from May 9 to November 22, with seven participating for the first time: Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Nauru, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The domestic entries accompany the Biennale’s major international art exhibition, titled “In Minor Keys,” which was curated by the late Cameroonian-born artistic director Kouyo Kouo, who died of cancer in May 2025 at the age of 57.<\/p>\n
The first African woman chosen to curate this prestigious show, Ms. Kuo had already developed a curatorial project before her sudden death. The Biennale has decided to hold her exhibition posthumously, featuring 111 invited participants.<\/p>\nCameroon-born curator Kouyo Kouo is the first African woman to lead a major international art exhibition.Image: Sarah Meyssonnier\/AP Photo\/Photo Alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n “In a minor key\u201cThe minor key rejects the loudness of the orchestra and the goose-stepping march, instead coming alive in the quiet tones, low register, humming, and solace of poetry,\u201d Kouou writes in the exhibition’s introduction. \u201cAlthough often lost in the disturbing cacophony of the current turmoil enveloping the world, the music continues.\u201d<\/p>\n
EU suggests funding cuts due to Russia’s participation<\/h2>\n Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, artists and curators from that country voluntarily withdrew from the event.<\/p>\n
Currently, Russia’s return to the exhibition in 2026 is causing friction between Italian institutions and the EU. Even within Italy’s far-right government, there are deep disagreements on this issue.<\/p>\nThe Russia pavilion has been closed since 2022 but will reopen.Image: Mirko Toniolo\/AGF\/SIPA\/Photo Alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In a formal warning addressed to the president of the Venice Biennale, <\/strong>The European Commission has called on Italy’s cultural institutions to reconsider their decision to allow Russia to take part before the Biennale opens, threatening to cut off 2 million euros (about 230 million yen) in funding for the event.<\/p>\nItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government opposed Russia’s presence at the Biennale, while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said the EU’s threat to cut funding was a “vulgar intimidation” against “one of the most important and free cultural organizations in the world”.<\/p>\n
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said in March that the pavilion would be closed if Russia carried out propaganda, but added that the Biennale should remain a forum for dialogue.<\/p>\n
Biennale Foundation President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco told an Italian newspaper that he would keep the Biennale “open to everyone. I will not approach anyone.” Republic. \u201d<\/em>Russia, Iran, and Israel will also appear. There will also be Ukraine and Belarus. everyone. “<\/p>\nRussia Pavilion Commissioner Anastasia Karneva is the daughter of Nikolai Vorobuev, a former Federal Security Service (FSB) general and current deputy CEO of Russia’s state-run defense contractor Rostec.<\/p>\n
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova condemned the Russian show, telling DW: “Participating in the Biennale with an apolitical program is an attempt to burnish Russia’s image and make the world forget the victims of Russian terrorism.”<\/p>\n
Tolokonnikova suggested that the Italian government remove representatives from President Vladimir Putin’s Russia from the pavilion and “instead display works by Russian political prisoners who are rotting in a penal colony for speaking out against Russia’s criminal war in Ukraine.”<\/p>\n
Iconic feminist art group plans to travel to the Biennale to stage a protest performance.<\/p>\nProtest art group Pussy Riot has been criticizing the Putin regime with their performances for the past 15 years. Image: Zuma\/Imago<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSouth Africa’s pavilion remains empty as ‘separation’ operations are blocked<\/h2>\n South African contemporary artist Gabriel Goliath has been selected to represent his country at the Biennale.<\/p>\n
Her performance piece was to include a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023. <\/p>\n
However, South African Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie called for several edits to the piece, which he described as “highly divisive”.<\/p>\n
Goliath refused to make the change and was prevented from entering the pavilion, which will remain empty after the show was abruptly canceled in January as the South African government did not appoint a replacement.<\/p>\n
A video installation version of the Goliath project will be shown at another venue in Venice that is not part of the Biennale. Mr. Goliath is suing his country’s Minister of Culture.<\/p>\n
Australia’s artists stripped and rehired<\/h2>\n Similarly, Australia faced backlash from the art world after pulling out the commissioning duo of artist Khalid Sabsabi and curator Michael D’Agostino, citing political concerns.<\/p>\n
Right-wing politicians had accused the Lebanese-born artist, who moved to Australia at the age of 12, of anti-Semitism. Sabsabi’s work frequently deals with Arab immigrant identity and Islamophobia, as well as the traumatic experience of civil war.<\/p>\n
Following boycotts and calls to resign, as well as an independent review by an external body, the controversial decision to resign Savi Sabi and D’Agostino was reversed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nCalls for the removal of Israel<\/h2>\n Around 200 artists, curators and workers participating in the 2026 Venice Biennale have signed a letter organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) calling for Israel to be banned from the exhibition.<\/p>\n
Second letter signed by over 70 artists and curators participating in this exhibition, <\/strong>It similarly calls for the removal of Israel, but extends that call to all “current regimes committing war crimes,” including Russia and the United States. <\/p>\nAnother point of criticism in the letter is that the Biennale offers Israel space in the Arsenale, the central industrial park where the main Koyo Koo exhibition will also be held, as the Israel Pavilion in the Giardini district is currently closed for renovations.<\/p>\n
Romanian-born sculptor Bel Simion Final lives and works in Haifa, but he still plans to participate in international art exhibitions. “As an artist, I do not support cultural boycotts,” Final said in a statement. \u201cWe believe in dialogue and exchange, especially in difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\nIn 2024, Israeli artist Ruth Patia and her curators decided to keep the National Pavilion closed until there was a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement to release the hostages.Image: Colleen Barry\/AP\/Photo Alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n At the last Biennale in 2024, artist Ruth Patia closed the Israeli pavilion to the public on the first day, saying it would only resume once a ceasefire was established in Gaza.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, since only countries officially recognized by Italy can participate in the Biennale, there was no Palestinian national pavilion until now. A sub-exhibition entitled \u201cGaza \u2014 No Words\u201d will be held in the Italian city during the Biennale.<\/p>\n
\u201cRuin\u201d: German pavilion featuring the late artist<\/h2>\n Less controversially, a German show titled “Ruin” was inspired by research into East Germany and the period of change following its 1990 reunification.<\/p>\n
German installation artist Henrike Naumann, who died of cancer in February at the age of 41, had finished contributing to German exhibitions before his sudden death. \u201cRuin\u201d also features works by Vietnamese-born Berlin-based artist Song Tiu.<\/p>\n
Patti Smith, Brian Eno and FKA Twigs to represent Vatican<\/h2>\n St. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century German Benedictine abbess who is still celebrated today as a pioneer in science, ecology, music, and feminist theology, would be the inspiration for the series of sound works commissioned for the Vatican exhibition, “The Ear is the Eye of the Soul.”<\/p>\n
It features an all-star roster of 24 artists including Brian Eno, Patti Smith, FKA Twigs, and more.<\/p>\n12th century German mystic Hildegard von Bingen is experiencing a significant modern resurgence as a woman of ‘power’ Image: akg-images\/picture-alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Editor: Sarah Fukal<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n#Unraveling #controversy #highlights #Venice #Biennale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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