Venice Biennale jury resigns en masse

The Venice Biennale just lost the group that decides its biggest prizes — a week before the 2026 art exhibition opens to the public on May 9. On Thursday, April 30, La Biennale said it had received the resignations of its entire five-person international jury. The institution did not give a reason. But the timing makes the gap pretty obvious: this comes right after the jurors publicly said they would not consider countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges for crimes against humanity — a stance that effectively targeted Israel and Russia. (labiennale.org) ### Who resigned? All five jurors quit together: Solange Farkas, who was serving as president, plus Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. They had only just been announced by La Biennale on April 22, and they were selected by Koyo Kouoh for the 61st International Art Exhibition, titled *In Minor Keys*. (labiennale.org) ### What does this jury actually do? This is the body that awards the Golden Lions and other official prizes — one of the main ways the Venice Biennale confers status on artists and national pavilions. La Biennale’s own 2026 materials had said the awards ceremony would take place in Venice on Saturday, May 9, the exhibition’s opening day. (labiennale.org)nishing right before the ceremony it was meant to run. (labiennale.org) ### What set this off? A week ago, the jury issued a statement saying it would refrain from considering countries whose leaders are charged by the ICC with crimes against humanity. In practice, that meant Israel and Russia would be out of the running for prizes. The Biennale immediately tried to keep some distance, saying the statement was the jurors’ own expression of fre(labiennale.org)gned and pointed back to that April 22 statement of intent. Basically, the fight seems to have moved from symbolic protest to institutional breakdown. (artnews.com) ### Why are Israel and Russia the flashpoint? Because the Biennale is built around national representation. There are 100 national participations in the 2026 edition, and prizes for national pavilions are a huge part of the event’s prestige economy. If a jury says certain countries will not even be considered, that cuts (artnews.com)l over the show. (labiennale.org) ### Why does Koyo Kouoh matter here? Kouoh was not just the curator of this edition. She selected the jury, shaped *In Minor Keys*, and was supposed to be the intellectual center of the whole exhibition. She died suddenly on May 10, 2025, at 57. The 2026 Biennale has already been carrying the weight of finishing and presenting her exhibition without her. Losing the jury n(labiennale.org) already unusually fragile. (labiennale.org) ### So what happens next? La Biennale has not yet publicly explained why the jurors resigned or who will replace them. But the practical problem is simple: if the awards ceremony is still supposed to happen on May 9, the institution now has almost no time to appoint a new jury or rethink the prizes. That is why this matters beyond art-world gossip — the Biennale’s opening-week choreography depends on these decisions. (labiennale.org) ### Bottom line? The Venice Biennale is supposed to project authority — taste, judgment, legitimacy. Right now it is projecting a vacuum. A five-member jury quit together, the awards process is suddenly up in the air, and the world’s biggest art exhibition is heading into opening week with one more hole at its center. (labiennale.org)