As Russia returns to the Venice Biennale, the European Commission has threatened to pull its funding from exhibition.
Henna Virkkunen, the Finnish vice-president of the Commission, and its Maltese Commissioner for Culture, Glenn Micallef, issued a blunt statement decrying the decision. ‘[It] is not compatible with the EU’s collective response to Russia’s brutal aggression. Should the Fondazione Biennale go forward with its decision to allow Russia’s participation, we will examine further action, including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation.’
Russia has a permanent exhibition space in the Giardini however, so it is unclear how much power the Biennale Foundation has to deny it access to the building. As it currently stands, ‘Any country recognized by the Italian Republic may ask independently to participate.’
The Foundation has previously said it did not have the power to eject Israel or Iran following similar calls.
According to the biennial website, ‘It can simply send a notification if it owns a Pavilion in the Giardini, or submit a letter from the competent government authority if it does not have its own permanent Pavilion.’
Countries that already own their own pavilions do not pay to use them, negating questions over sanctions.
Virkkunen and Micallef’s statement follows a letter signed by the culture ministers from 22 European countries including France, Germany, Ireland and Ukraine protesting Russian participation.
Russia has not participated in the Biennale since 2019. In 2022, the Russian-born artist Kirill Savchenkov withdrew after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He said, ‘There is no place for art when civilians are dying under the fire of missiles, when citizens of Ukraine are hiding in shelters, and when Russian protestors are getting silenced.’
In 2024 the pavilion was occupied by Bolivia, on Russia’s invitation. Assuming it goes ahead, the 2026 pavilion will feature a group show curated by Anastasia Karneeva.
Karneeva, who has previously worked at Haunch of Venison gallery and Christie’s, is the daughter of former KGB/FSB general Nikolai Anatolyevich Volobuev, and runs an art consultancy agency with Ekaterina Vinokurova, daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Vinokurova is under sanctions by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Japan.
