EU gives Biennale 30 days

The European Commission has given the Venice Biennale 30 days to answer allegations that its Russian Pavilion plan may breach European Union sanctions. (artnews.com) The warning came in a letter sent on Friday, April 10, by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency to Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. It set a May 11 deadline and said a €2 million grant tied to the 2028 edition could be suspended or terminated. (artnews.com) The 61st International Art Exhibition opens to the public on May 9, two days before that deadline. European Commission officials said the Biennale appeared to have accepted “indirect support” from the Russian government by hosting a national pavilion funded and promoted by Moscow. (artnews.com) Brussels had already gone public on March 10. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef said Russia’s participation was “not compatible” with the European Union’s response to the war in Ukraine and said the grant could be frozen if the pavilion goes ahead. (ec.europa.eu) The dispute centers on whether a national pavilion is just an art show or a state-backed platform. The Commission said culture should not be used for propaganda and said institutions must avoid giving a platform to people who have supported the Kremlin’s war. (ec.europa.eu) Russia has not taken part in the Venice Biennale since 2019. After Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian artists and curator chosen for that year withdrew, and the pavilion stayed closed; in 2024, Bolivia used the space instead. (artnews.com) This year, Russia’s delegate for international cultural exchanges, former culture minister Mikhail Shvydkoy, said the pavilion will reopen in May with more than 50 young musicians, poets and philosophers from Russia and other countries. He said Russia was not “returning” because its pavilion had never ceased to exist. (artnews.com) The Biennale has defended its decision by saying “no regulations have been violated” and that it supplied documentation to Italy’s culture ministry. Organizers have also said they reject “any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art.” (artnews.com; politico.eu) Pressure has come from multiple directions inside Europe. Culture ministers from 22 countries urged the Biennale to reconsider Russia’s participation, while Italy’s culture minister Alessandro Giuli opposed the move and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called the Commission’s threat “vulgar blackmail.” (politico.eu; euronews.com) The next test is whether Venice changes course before May 11 or opens on May 9 with Russia still on the program. If it does, the fight shifts from an art-world dispute to a funding decision in Brussels. (artnews.com; euronews.com)