Venice Biennale jury resigns

The Venice Biennale has a jury problem, but really it has a politics problem. Nine days before the 2026 art exhibition opens to the public on May 9, the entire five-member international jury quit. That matters because this is the group that normally decides the Biennale’s top prizes — the Golden Lions that can shape careers, markets, and national bragging rights for years. Instead, La Biennale di Venezia has now thrown out the normal award process and handed the choice to visitors. (labiennale.org) ### Who resigned? All five jurors resigned on April 30: Solange Farkas, who was serving as president, plus Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. The Biennale’s own statement was bare-bones — it said the resignations had been received, but gave no explanation. The jurors themselves tied the move to an earlier statement they had issued on April 22. (labiennale.org) ### What was in that earlier statement? The jury had said it would not consider countries whose leaders are charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes against humanity. They did not name countries, but the meaning was obvious: Russia and Israel. Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu are both under ICC warrants(labiennale.org)a geopolitical line in the sand. (e-flux.com) ### Why did that blow up so fast? Because the Biennale is built around national pavilions, and the awards are one of the few moments when the institution formally ranks them. Excluding two countries from prize consideration without excluding them (e-flux.com)entious after its absence since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (theartnewspaper.com) ### So what did the Biennale do? It reversed the mechanism without canceling the show. On April 30, the same day the resignations were announced, La Biennale created two new “Visitors’ Lions” — one for best participant in the main exhibition and one for best national participation. Anyone eligible to vote has to be a ticket (theartnewspaper.com)racking. The ceremony that had been scheduled for May 9 is now pushed to November 22, the exhibition’s closing day. (labiennale.org) ### Is the main exhibition itself still happening? Yes. The exhibition is still opening on schedule, with pre-opening days on May 6, 7, and 8 and the public opening on May 9. It runs through November 22 under the title *In Minor Keys*, the posthumous curatorial project of Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2025. La Biennale says the show is being realized by the team Kouoh selected, and it will feature 110 invited participants across Venice. (labiennale.org) ### Why does Kouoh matter so much here? Because this jury was not just any jury — it was the jury selected for Kouoh’s edition. That gives the resignations extra symbolic weight. Kouoh was a major curator, and this Biennale has already been framed as an effort to preserve and carry forward her vision after her death. So the institutional breakdown lands(labiennale.org 1)(labiennale.org 2) ### Why is a public vote such a big shift? Because the Golden Lions are supposed to carry expert judgment. A visitor vote is something else entirely — more like turning a jury prize into an audience award at the last minute. It keeps the awards alive, but it also sidesteps the question the jury forced into the open: can a global art institution separate(labiennale.org)ically, is to stop answering and let the crowd decide. (labiennale.org) ### Bottom line? The 2026 Venice Biennale is still opening, but the awards system that usually confers authority on the show has cracked. What visitors will see next week is still Kouoh’s exhibition. What they will not see is the normal fiction that art-world prizes can float above politics. (labiennale.org)