Political tensions at Venice
Preview coverage shows Venice’s politics surfacing early: an artist profile frames Andreas Angelidakis as challenging national‑pavilion norms, while reports say Ukraine has sanctioned five representatives linked to the Russian pavilion, including Anastasia Karneeva and Mikhail Shvydkoy, and EU officials are warning funds could be pulled if Russia is involved. ( )
Politics are already shaping the 2026 Venice Biennale, weeks before the art exhibition opens on May 9. (ec.europa.eu) The immediate trigger is Russia’s planned reopening of its national pavilion after sitting out the 2022 and 2024 editions. The Venice Biennale announced its 61st exhibition lineup on March 4, listing 99 participating nations, including Russia. (abcnews.com) On March 10, European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner Glenn Micallef said Russia’s participation was “not compatible” with the European Union’s response to the war in Ukraine. They said the Commission would consider suspending or terminating an ongoing European Union grant to the Biennale Foundation if the decision stands. (ec.europa.eu) Ukraine escalated on April 9, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Decree No. 305/2026 enacting sanctions against five people tied to the Russian pavilion. Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna said the list includes commissioner Anastasia Karneeva, former Russian culture minister Mikhail Shvydkoy, and artists Artem Nikolaev, Ilya Tatakov, and Valeria Oliinyk. (united24media.com, kyivindependent.com) Italy’s government has tried to distance itself from the decision. Associated Press reported on March 13 that Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli opposed Russia’s inclusion, fired ministry official Tamara Gregoretti from the Biennale board, and opened an inquiry into whether the pavilion complies with European Union sanctions rules. (abcnews.com) The Biennale has defended a different principle. The Art Newspaper reported organizers said Venice “rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art” and remains “a place of dialogue, openness, and artistic freedom.” (theartnewspaper.com) Russia is also presenting its pavilion as a statement about cultural continuity, not just attendance. In comments published by ARTnews on March 3, Shvydkoy said Russia was not “returning” because its pavilion had never really left Venice’s cultural space, and said this year’s project is titled “The Tree is Rooted in the Sky.” (artnews.com) A second front in this argument is the national pavilion format itself. In an April 11 interview with Observer, Greek artist Andreas Angelidakis said his project for Greece treats the pavilion as an “anti-fascist escape room” and examines the building’s 1934 debut, the year Hitler and Benito Mussolini first met in Venice. (observer.com) Greek materials for the project push that critique further. A March announcement for Angelidakis’s “Escape Room” said the Greek pavilion, open May 9 to November 22, reworks Plato’s cave as a way to examine nationalism, populism, and the political ideas embedded in the Giardini’s historic national buildings. (daysofart.gr) That leaves the Biennale entering its preview period with two overlapping disputes: whether Russia can appear at all, and whether the national-pavilion model itself can be separated from the politics that built it. The exhibition opens to the public on May 9 and runs through November 22. (abcnews.com, daysofart.gr)
