Russian activists Pussy Riot and Femen have staged a loud protest to oppose the return of Russian artists to the Venice Biennale while war is still raging in Ukraine, the BBC reports.
The activists gathered in the gardens of the biennale, sometimes called the Olympics of art, and, dressed entirely in black with pink balaclavas, chanted slogans outside the Russian pavilion. When a security guard tried to close the pavilion’s glass doors, protesters lit smoke candles and chanted “Russia kills! Biennale exhibits!” and one poster read “Curated by Putin, dead bodies included.”
Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot told the BBC that Russians were drinking vodka and champagne in their pavilion, which was soaked in the blood of Ukrainian children. She pointed out that Russia’s attempt to return to the high-profile art event is part of its ongoing hybrid war: “It’s not just tanks and drones, murder and rape in Ukraine. It’s also culture, art, language…it’s the way [Russia] tries to conquer the West and you guys just opened the doors to them.”
Since the announcement of Russia’s return to the Biennale, concerns have been expressed more than once. The European Commission has strongly condemned the organizers’ decision and threatened to withdraw the Biennale’s two million euro funding.
The commission has stated that allowing an aggressor state like Russia to shine at such an event is against ethical principles.
Italy’s culture minister will not attend the exhibition’s opening to the general public on the 9th of May. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who visited Red Square in Moscow in 2014 wearing a shirt with a picture of Putin, has refused to join the boycott of the Biennale and has said that no pavilion should be excluded. A source in Brussels said the EC was not happy with this stance.
Dissatisfaction with the 61st Venice Biennale does not stop at Russia’s participation. Last week, the entire international jury resigned, linking its decision to countries whose leaders have been issued arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court, namely Israel and Russia.
On the morning of the 6h of May, another group of protesters gathered at the Israeli pavilion, and the ground outside was then covered with soggy leaflets denouncing the “Genocide Pavilion.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry had previously criticized the “political jury” for turning the Biennale into a place of anti-Israel political indoctrination.
As discontent grew, the exhibition’s president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, refused to give interviews. The former right-wing journalist had once praised Putin. However, on the 6th of May, he broke his silence to accuse critics of creating a laboratory of intolerance and to denounce what he called censorship and exclusion. Butafucco declared that if the Biennale began to choose not works but origins, not visions but passports, it would cease to be what it has always been: a place where the world meets.
The director then left the press conference before anyone could ask questions.
Butafucco’s argument ignored the implications of the posters that have been seen all over Venice this week. They advertise imaginary events at the “Invisible Pavilion,” which features works by Ukrainian artists like Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was shot when the Russians occupied the village where he lived. The posters say: “Cancelled. Because the author was killed by Russia.”
The Biennale’s canal-lined gardens are home to dozens of gorgeous pavilions showcasing the best of each country’s art. For all countries, but especially autocracies (like Russia), pavilions are an opportunity to exercise their own soft power.
In 2022, the curators of the Russian pavilion refused to participate, protesting the invasion of Ukraine. Two years later, the pavilion was temporarily handed over to Bolivia. This year, the Russians have filled the space with upside-down trees and experimental sound performances. The official representative of the pavilion, Anastasia Karneva, when asked whether Russia should be at the biennale, said that it is a Russian space, and they are in their rightful place. She also said that she is not thinking about protests, because she is very busy.
Karneva’s father is the deputy head of the Russian state arms manufacturer Rostec,
and is on the list of sanctioned persons, but the representative did not want to discuss this either.
Russia’s return to the biennale is partial. After the pre-opening events, the pavilion will be closed. It is not known whether this is due to protests or sanctions. However, the performance will be recorded and will be played to visitors outside the pavilion. This means that the sound will also reach the exhibition area of the Ukrainian works. A statue of an origami deer cast from concrete hangs just next to the main entrance. The work by Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova was first installed in Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region, when the front line was 40 kilometers from the city. In 2024, the work had to be removed to protect it from the occupiers.
The artist recently said in an interview that Ukrainians have destroyed a city that no longer exists: “I hope this message is clear and people who visit Biennale can understand it.” The deer she created is a powerful symbol of displacement, and its fate is the same as that of millions of Ukrainians, and the artist said that Pokrovsk was a lively city, but it no longer exists because Russia came.
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