Venice pavilion row

The European Commission has opened a procedure to freeze or revoke €2 million in Venice Biennale funding over Russia’s restored national pavilion. (euronews.com) A letter sent by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency gave Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco 30 days to explain the institution’s position. The grant at risk runs through 2028. (euronews.com) Brussels first warned on March 10 that Russia’s participation could trigger funding consequences. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef said the Biennale’s decision was “not compatible” with the European Union’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. (ec.europa.eu) The 61st International Art Exhibition opens to the public on May 9 and runs through November 22, with previews on May 6, 7 and 8. Russia’s pavilion is set to reopen at the same edition after sitting out the 2022 and 2024 art biennales. (labiennale.org) (artnews.com) The fight is about more than one building in the Giardini. European officials and Ukraine argue that a state pavilion at a publicly backed event gives Moscow cultural legitimacy while the war continues. (theartnewspaper.com) (politico.eu) The Biennale has defended the move as an institutional principle, saying it rejects “any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art.” But Italy’s Culture Ministry said the foundation acted independently and against the government’s opposition. (politico.eu) Pressure has widened since early March. Twenty-two European culture ministers protested Russia’s return, and at least 34 members of the European Parliament later urged the European Union to suspend all funding if the pavilion goes ahead. (theartnewspaper.com 1) (theartnewspaper.com 2) Ukraine has also escalated. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed sanctions on April 9 against five organizers and participants tied to the Russian pavilion, including commissioner Anastasia Karneeva. (united24media.com) Russia’s side has framed the pavilion as proof that its culture is not isolated. Mikhail Shvydkoy, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for international cultural cooperation, said Russia was not “returning” because its pavilion had never ceased to represent the country in Venice. (artnews.com) Inside Italy, the dispute has split the governing right. Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli distanced himself from the reopening, while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called the European Union’s funding threat “blackmail.” (euronews.com) The next deadline is now the Commission’s 30-day clock, with the Biennale due to open before that window closes. That leaves Venice heading into its biggest art event under a funding threat from Brussels and a diplomatic protest from Kyiv. (euronews.com)