Venice Biennale jury resigns en masse

The Venice Biennale just lost the group that normally decides its biggest prizes — all five members of the 2026 international jury resigned on April 30, nine days before the exhibition opens to the public on May 9. La Biennale confirmed the resignations in a short statement and named the jurors: Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. The institution did not give a reason. But the timing makes the fight pretty clear. Days earlier, the same jury had announced it would not consider artists from countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court warrants for crimes against humanity — a move that immediately pulled Israel and Russia into the center of the awards process. (labiennale.org) ### What exactly did the jury do? On April 22, when the jury was announced, it also attached an unusual condition to its role. It said it would not evaluate or award artists representing countries whose heads of state or government are under ICC warrants tied to crimes against humanity. That was not a minor procedural tweak. At this Biennale, it meant the jury was trying to redraw the line between artistic judgment and geopolitical accountability before the show had even opened. (labiennale.org) ### Why did that blow up so fast? Because the Venice Biennale is built around national pavilions. Countries show up under their own flags, and one of the top prizes is the Golden Lion for best national participation. So if a jury says some national entries are ineligible for prizes because of the conduct of their governments, it is not just judging art anymore. It is changing the terms of participation in one of the art world’s most symbolic competitions — and doing it after invitations and national presentations were already in motion. (labiennale.org) ### Which countries were caught in that rule? Reporting around the dispute points mainly to Israel and Russia. Russia’s return was already contentious — 2026 is its first appearance since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Israel was under separate scrutiny because of the war in Gaza and the legal and political battles around it. The jury’s rule did not name those countries in the Biennale’s own materials, but everyone understood the practical effect. (theartnewspaper.com) ### What did the Biennale do after the resignations? It scrapped the normal jury-award structure for this edition and created two new “Visitors’ Lions” instead — one for the best participant in the main exhibition and one for the best national participation. Voting is open to ticket holders who visit both exhibition venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, during the run of the show from May 9 to November 22. That is a huge shift. The prizes are no longer being handed down by a small expert panel. They are being turned into a public vote. (labiennale.org) ### Did the awards date change too? Yes — and this part is a little messy. Earlier Biennale materials said the awards ceremony would happen on May 9, the opening day. The new Visitors’ Lions, though, cannot be decided until people have actually visited both sites over the course of the exhibition, so La Biennale now says those awards will be presented on November 22, the closing day. Basically, the institution moved from immediate jury verdicts to a months-long audience tally. (labiennale.org) ### Why does this matter beyond one art show? Because the Biennale is not just another exhibition. It is one of the places where the global art world decides prestige in public. A mass jury resignation this close to opening says the old model — expert prizes floating above politics — is getting harder to maintain. The catch is that the replacement is not neutral either. A visitor vote changes who decides, but it does not make the underlying dispute disappear. (labiennale.org) ### So what is the real story here? Not just that five jurors quit. It is that the Venice Biennale tried to hold together two incompatible ideas at once — that art can be judged as art, and that the national framework around it can be ignored when war-crimes politics crash into the room. Turns out that balance did not hold. Now the 2026 edition opens with its prize system rewritten in real time. (labiennale.org)