By Giulia Segreti
ROME, March 11 (Reuters) – The European Commission has threatened to withdraw funding from the Venice Biennale art exhibition if organisers proceed with plans to allow Russia to reopen its pavilion at this year’s edition.
Russia’s pavilion at the art fair was closed after Moscow’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which triggered the exclusion of Russian artists and institutions from major European cultural events.
“Member States, institutions and organisations must act in line with EU sanctions and avoid giving a platform to individuals who have actively supported or justified the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine,” an EU statement said.
It added it would examine further action “including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation,” which organises the contemporary visual arts event that runs from May 9 to November 22.
The EU provides the Biennale with a grant of 2 million euros ($2.32 million) for film production over a three-year period, a spokesperson said. The festival receives annual financing, mainly from Italian state, estimated at around 19 million euros.
Culture and foreign ministers from more than 20 European countries, including Germany, France and Spain, also sent a letter to letter to Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco saying they considered Russia’s presence “unacceptable.”
Buttafuoco described the festival as “a space of coexistence for the whole planet” without censorship, which should also be open to countries in conflict.
ITALY GOVERNMENT AGAINST BIENNALE DECISION
However, Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said the government disagreed with the Biennale Foundation’s “entirely autonomous” decision.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a staunch supporter of EU sanctions against Russia, but prior to the invasion of Ukraine the co-ruling League Party had strong ties with President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
Italian events have attempted on several occasions to host Russian artists, only to back down in the face of criticism.
Last year authorities cancelled a classical concert in a palace near Naples over the planned participation of Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, widely regarded as close to Putin.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Deputy Prime Minister Tetyana Berezhna on Sunday urged the international art community to stay vigilant over Russia’s use of culture as an instrument of propaganda.
“The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s most authoritative art platforms, and it must not become a stage for whitewashing the war crimes that Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian people and our cultural heritage,” they said.
This year Russia and Belarus were readmitted to the Winter Paralympic Games, currently being hosted by Italy in Milan and Cortina, following a contested decision by the International Paralympic Committee.
($1 = 0.8631 euros)
(additional reporting by Gavin Jones in Rome and Barbara Erling in Warsaw, editing by Alvise Armellini and Alex Richardson)
