EU tells Biennale to drop Russia pavilion

The European Commission has told the Venice Biennale to drop Russia’s pavilion or risk losing European Union funding before the 2026 exhibition opens on May 9. (ec.europa.eu) In a March 10 statement, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef said Russia’s participation was “not compatible” with the European Union’s response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine. They said the commission would consider suspending or ending an existing grant to the Biennale Foundation if the pavilion goes ahead. (ec.europa.eu) Italian media reports cited by Euronews say the European Education and Culture Executive Agency then sent Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco a follow-up letter on April 10 opening a procedure that could freeze or revoke €2 million in funding through 2028. The Biennale was given 30 days to explain its position. (euronews.com) The fight is over a national pavilion, not the main curated show. La Biennale di Venezia says any country recognized by Italy that owns a pavilion in the Giardini can notify the organizers and take part. (theartnewspaper.com) That rule allowed Russia to reappear on the Biennale’s 2026 list after its pavilion was shut in 2022, when artists Kirill Savchenkov and Alexandra Sukhareva and curator Raimundas Malašauskas withdrew after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2024, Russia handed its Giardini building to Bolivia for that edition instead of mounting its own show. (artnews.com) The 61st International Art Exhibition, titled *In Minor Keys*, runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with previews on May 6, 7 and 8. The Biennale has said the edition includes 99 national participations. (labiennale.org) Russia’s side has framed the pavilion as proof it is not culturally isolated. Mikhail Shvydkoy, Russia’s delegate for international cultural exchanges and a former culture minister, told ARTnews the project would involve more than 50 young musicians, poets and philosophers from Russia and other countries. (artnews.com) The Biennale has defended inclusion in similar terms, saying it rejects “any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art” and sees Venice as a place of dialogue. Critics, including Pussy Riot and ministers from 22 European countries cited by Politico, say the pavilion gives a state platform to a government under sanctions. (theartnewspaper.com (politico.eu) Italy’s government is split. Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli has opposed Russia’s presence, while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called Brussels’ funding threat “blackmail” and defended the Biennale’s freedom to host Russian artists. (euronews.com) The immediate deadline is the commission’s 30-day clock, with the opening now weeks away. If the Biennale does not change course, the dispute over one pavilion could turn into a test of whether European Union sanctions reach one of Europe’s biggest art stages. (euronews.com)