Biennale funding controversy

The European Commission has pulled a €2 million grant from the Venice Biennale after organizers allowed Russia to take part in the 61st exhibition opening May 9. (aol.com) The 2026 Biennale Arte runs from May 9 to November 22 in Venice, with preview days on May 6, 7 and 8. La Biennale di Venezia says this edition, titled *In Minor Keys*, will include 100 national participations and 31 collateral events. (labiennale.org) European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on April 21 that Russia’s return was “morally wrong” and said the bloc intended to cut funding. Latvia’s culture minister, Agnese Lāce, said she would boycott the May 9 opening if Russia takes part. (politico.eu) Russia had not mounted its own pavilion in the last two editions after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In 2024, Russia handed its Giardini pavilion to Bolivia; this year, Russian official Mikhail Shvydkoy said the pavilion will reopen with a project titled *The Tree is Rooted in the Sky*. (artnews.com) The Biennale’s decision collided with a separate fight around the United States pavilion, where the selection process changed under the Trump administration. CNN reported that curator Jeffrey Uslip said Alma Allen’s show was “the smoothest exhibition” he had curated in 30 years and said the team had “complete artistic autonomy.” (kvia.com) CNN said the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs oversees the U.S. search and that, for months, it was unclear whether an artist would be chosen at all. The report said Allen’s selection followed delays, a reworked process and scrutiny of pavilion commissioner Jenni Parido and her nonprofit, the American Arts Conservancy. (kvia.com) Barbara Chase-Riboud then added another layer to the U.S. dispute by saying she had been offered the pavilion and turned it down. She told the *Financial Times*, as quoted by ARTnews, that representing the country “would have been splendid” but “this was not the moment.” (artnews.com) ARTnews reported that Chase-Riboud was approached by the American Arts Conservancy and that photographer William Eggleston was also offered the pavilion and declined, according to unnamed sources cited by the *New York Times* and *Financial Times*. Sculptor Robert Lazzarini has separately said his proposal was initially selected and later withdrawn. (artnews.com) So two disputes now sit over the same exhibition days before opening: Europe is cutting money over Russia’s inclusion, while the U.S. pavilion is defending how its artist was chosen. The Biennale opens to the public on May 9 with both questions still unresolved. (aol.com)