The feminist collectives Pussy Riot and Femen stormed this morning into the Venice Biennale in front of the Russian pavilion, protesting the readmission of this country in this edition after its exclusion in 2022 due to the invasion of Ukraine. The protesters, hooded in pink, threw smoke bombs with the colors of the Ukrainian flag and also pink against the pavilion. During the protest, which was dissolved by the police after half an hour of clashes, the Russian ambassador remained holed up inside the venue, according to Italian press reports.
The reinstatement of Russia to the 61st Venice Biennale (2026), inaugurated yesterday Tuesday, has caused an institutional crisis at the great contemporary art event, including the resignation of the international jury and the European Union’s threat to withdraw its two million euros in funding, as well as criticism from much of the cultural sector and even from the Italian Prime Minister herself, Giorgia Meloni, who opposes its participation. Added to this is the participation of Israel, which has also been questioned for its military intervention in Gaza. Additionally, there was the last-minute withdrawal in extremis of Iran, announced on Monday just hours before the start.
Despite the criticism and tensions, Russia and Israel opened their pavilions to a professional audience before the official inauguration on Saturday. In the absence of a jury, the public will decide in November, at the close of the edition, the awards for best artist and best pavilion, an unprecedented situation in the history of the Biennale.
Russia’s proposal, titled The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky (El árbol tiene raíces en el cielo), is a set of floral compositions and texts about memory and landscape, accompanied by loud music. Israel’s, titled Rose of Nothingness, by artist Belu-Simion Fainaru, is an installation in a room flooded by drops of water falling on a black surface from a network of suspended pipes, alongside a rose enclosed in a white freezer.
Read more This is the Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain transmitted from person to person
