The Venice Biennale reinstated Russia’s pavilion after a four-year absence.
The Venice Biennale is facing broad condemnation for its decision to let Russia participate for the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with countries calling on the art festival to reconsider the move and the EU threatening to pull funding.
Organizers of the prestigious international exhibition announced earlier this month that Russia would be permitted to take part in the event — held every two years, and taking place from May to November in 2026 — arguing they reject “any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art.” While many countries run national pavilions at the Biennale, Moscow had been effectively blacklisted since 2022.
In a joint letter sent to the organizers and obtained by POLITICO, culture ministers from 22 European countries including France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine urged the Biennale “to reconsider the participation of the Russian Federation.”
“In response to this ongoing aggression and its devastating human and cultural consequences, the Russian Federation remains subject to European and international sanctions, including in the cultural domain, imposed for its violation of international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, in a joint statement Tuesday, Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen and Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef said that “Member States, institutions and organisations must act in line with EU sanctions,” adding that the festival’s decision to reinstate the pavilion after its four-year absence was “not compatible with the EU’s collective response to Russia’s brutal aggression.”
The commissioners warned that if Russia is allowed to participate, they “will examine further action, including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation,” which organizes the event.
Italy’s Ministry of Culture said it opposed the festival’s decision, which was celebrated by Mikhail Shvydkoy, the Kremlin’s special representative for international cultural cooperation, as “proof that Russian culture is not isolated.”
Moscow has sought to use art, culture and sport as soft-power tools to end its diplomatic isolation on the world stage. Ukraine has called on European and other countries to maintain boycotts against Russian cultural figures and institutions.
Martina Sapio contributed to this report.