According to reporting by ArtNews, Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani, the general director of visual arts at the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) on Tuesday that Iran still plans to participate in the 61st Venice Biennale. The information follows a 4 May statement from the Biennale announcing that the nation would not participate.
Speaking to ISNA, Tehrani, who is listed as the pavilion’s commissioner, said that they had been in discussions with Biennale organisers about their participation and were expecting to hear back shortly. He further states that they had experienced difficulties related to costs, lack of infrastructure and uncertainty regarding the ongoing war with Israel and the US and its potential impact on diplomatic relationships with Italy.
According to Tehrani, an initial suggestion to reduce Iran’s presence to two or three months rather than the full seven months of the exhibition was rejected by the Biennale.
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