Venice Biennale opens without jury

The Venice Biennale is supposed to open with art, gossip, and prize speculation. This year it opened with a vacuum. The 61st edition, In Minor Keys, began in Venice on 9 May without its international jury and without the usual Golden Lion and Silver Lion awards after the entire five-member panel resigned days before the opening. La Biennale kept the exhibition itself intact, but the thing that usually turns preview week into a competitive ritual basically disappeared. ### Why is “no jury” such a big deal? The Venice Biennale is not just another giant group show. It is the place where countries stage national pavilions, curators make reputations, and prizes can reshape careers. The jury normally selects winners for best national participation, best artist in the international exhibition, and related honors. Strip that out, and you do not cancel the Biennale — but you do remove one of the event’s main ways of assigning prestige. (labiennale.org) ### Who resigned? All five jurors stepped down: Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. La Biennale confirmed the resignations in an official statement last week. Those jurors had been appointed only in April for Koyo Kouoh’s exhibition, so the collapse happened fast and very publicly. ### Why did they quit? The immediate trigger was a fight over who should be eligible for prizes. (theartnewspaper.com) The jurors had said they would not award countries whose governments or leaders faced International Criminal Court charges for crimes against humanity — a position that pulled Israel and Russia into the center of the dispute. That move triggered backlash, including criticism from Israel’s foreign ministry, and the jury then resigned altogether. (labiennale.org) ### So what replaced the prizes? La Biennale did not leave the awards slot completely empty. On opening day it announced Leoni dei Visitatori — visitor-voted lions for one artist in the main exhibition and one national participation. That is a major downgrade in institutional weight. A jury prize says experts made a judgment. A public vote says the organizers needed a workable substitute, fast. ### Why were artists pulling out of awards too? Because the jury crisis turned into a broader protest. (theartnewspaper.com) More than 70 participating artists said they did not want to be considered for awards, backing the resigning jurors and objecting to the Biennale’s handling of Israel’s participation. Names in that group included Walid Raad, Alice Maher, and Alfredo Jaar. Once that many artists refuse the prize structure, the awards stop looking like honors and start looking like a legitimacy problem. (labiennale.org) ### Was it only about Israel? No — but Israel was the flashpoint. Russia’s return also drew anger, and the conflict spilled into the exhibition grounds themselves. During preview week, a strike temporarily closed more than 15 pavilions in protest over Israel’s presence. So this was not just an internal boardroom dispute about rules. It became visible on the ground, in the actual functioning of the event. (theartnewspaper.com) ### Did the show still open normally? Mostly, yes. The exhibition opened on schedule and runs through 22 November. National pavilions still launched their projects, attendance on the first public day was about 10,000 visitors — up roughly 10% on 2024 — and the main exhibition moved ahead with the support of Kouoh’s family after her death last year. The art is there. But the frame around it is unusually unstable. ### Bottom line? Venice did not cancel the Biennale. (theartnewspaper.com) It canceled, or at least hollowed out, the machinery that tells the art world what counted most. That is why this opening feels so strange — the exhibition survived, but the authority behind its prizes did not. (labiennale.org)