Biennale politics heat up

Less than a month before the Venice Biennale opens, two national pavilions are drawing scrutiny: Russia over sanctions, Somalia over who gets to represent the country. (artnews.com) The European Commission told the Biennale it has 30 days to explain the inclusion of the Russian Pavilion or risk losing a €2 million grant earmarked for the 2028 edition. ARTnews reported the letter was sent on Friday, April 10, with a response deadline of May 11. (artnews.com) The dispute follows Russia’s decision to reopen its pavilion after sitting out the 2022 and 2024 editions following the invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s delegate for international cultural exchanges, Mikhail Shvydkoy, told ARTnews in March that the pavilion would open in May with more than 50 young musicians, poets, and philosophers from Russia and other countries. (artnews.com) La Biennale di Venezia has defended a broad admissions policy for national participation. In a March 4 statement, it said the 61st exhibition includes 99 national participations and 31 collateral events, and that it “rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art.” (labiennale.org) Somalia’s first-ever pavilion is facing a different challenge. ARTnews reported on April 14 that the Mogadishu-based Somali Arts Foundation said organizers “neither meaningfully consulted nor included” representatives of Somalia’s art scene. (artnews.com) According to ARTnews, the pavilion, titled “SADDEXLEEY,” includes three artists with Somali ties who work outside the country: Ayan Farah in Stockholm, Asmaa Jama in Bristol, and Warsan Shire in London. The foundation said no Somalia-based artists were included and questioned how the project was funded. (artnews.com) The pavilion is jointly curated by Mohamed Mire of Fotografiska in Stockholm and Venice-based project manager Fabio Scrivanti, with Abdirahman Yusuf as commissioner. ARTnews said the organizers did not immediately respond to its request for comment, and one artist said separately that she had declined Mire’s invitation to participate. (artnews.com) These fights are unfolding as the Biennale prepares one of its biggest editions in years. The 61st International Art Exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” will run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with preview days on May 6, 7, and 8, and the Biennale says it will proceed with the exhibition as conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, with the support of her family. (labiennale.org) The wider field is still expanding even as the politics harden. La Biennale says seven countries, including Somalia and Qatar, are participating for the first time in 2026, and Qatar this week detailed a pavilion built around Rirkrit Tiravanija and collaborators including Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid, and Fadi Kattan. (labiennale.org) (thepeninsulaqatar.com) By opening day on May 9, the Biennale will be carrying two arguments at once: whether a Russian state pavilion can remain under European Union sanctions pressure, and who gets to speak for a country making its debut in Venice. (artnews.com 1) (artnews.com 2)