Venice Biennale international jury resigns en masse, withdraws from prize deliberations

The Venice Biennale is the art world’s biggest recurring stage — part exhibition, part national pageant, part prestige machine. So when the entire international jury quits a little over a week before opening, that is not backstage drama. That is the awards system breaking in public. On April 30, La Biennale di Venezia said it had received the resignations of all five jurors for the 61st International Art Exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” which opens to the public on May 9 and runs through November 22. (labiennale.org) ### Who resigned? The whole jury. It had been announced on April 22 and was led by Brazilian curator Solange Farkas, with Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. This is the panel that normally decides the Golden Lion for best national participation, the Golden Lion for a participant in the main exhibition, and the other top official prizes. (labiennale.org) ### Why is that such a big deal? Because at Venice, prizes are not a side event. They help decide which pavilion becomes the story of the week, which artist gets institutional momentum, and which national presentation gets folded into the canon. The Biennale had planned its awards ceremony for May 9. Instead, after the resignations, it pushed the ceremony to November 22 — the show’s final public day. (labiennale.org) ### So what replaces the jury? A public vote — but only for two prizes. La Biennale said it has created two “Visitors’ Lions,” one for the best participant in Kouoh’s central exhibition and one for the best national participation. Only ticket holders who have visited both main venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, can vote. Basically, the Biennale is swapping expert adjudication for audience balloting on the two most visible awards. (labiennale.org) ### Why did the jury walk? The Biennale’s own statement gave no reason. But the resignation came right after the jurors publicly said they would not award prizes to countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges for crimes against humanity — a formulation widely understood to cover Russia and Israel. On April 30, the jurors said the(labiennale.org)resignation note stayed terse. (theartnewspaper.com) ### Why are Russia and Israel at the center? Because both countries have become tests of what the Biennale is supposed to be — a neutral cultural platform or a place where geopolitics has consequences. Russia is especially explosive this year because 2026 marks its return to the Biennale after its absence following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Israel, meanwhile, was absent in 2024 after artist Ruth Patir and her team kept the pavilion closed. (theartnewspaper.com) ### What is Italy doing about Russia’s pavilion? Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, has escalated hard. He said he would skip the Biennale opening over Russia’s participation, and ministry inspectors were sent to Venice to gather records tied to the reopening of the Russian Pavilion. The fight is not just symbolic either — the EU has moved toward cutting €2 million in funding over the Russia issue. (artnews.com) ### Why does this matter beyond the art world? Because Venice has always sold itself as global culture above politics — but that bargain gets harder to maintain when national pavilions are literally organized by states. The jury tried to draw a moral line through the prize system. The institution refused to settle the underlying dispute and instead cha(artnews.com)na where the rules are being rewritten mid-match. (labiennale.org) ### Bottom line? The immediate news is simple — the jurors are gone, the May 9 awards are gone, and visitors now decide two replacement Lions in November. But the real story is bigger. Venice is discovering that once war, sanctions, and state legitimacy enter the pavilion system, even the people picked to hand out prizes may decide the format itself no longer works. (labiennale.org)