The European authorities canceled a multiyear grant to the Venice Biennale on Tuesday because of Russia’s participation, saying that its inclusion in the major art event despite its war in Ukraine was inconsistent with European principles.
“Cultural events, funded by European taxpayers’ money, should safeguard democratic values, foster open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression,” Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Commission, said in a statement announcing the decision. He said those values were “not respected in today’s Russia.”
The multiyear grant was worth 2 million euros, about $2.3 million — a fraction of the Venice Biennale’s budget. But the decision, first mooted in March, is embarrassing for the Biennale and resurfaces a monthslong furor over Russia’s return to the event, which features national pavilions showcasing work by renowned artists.
After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Biennale issued a news release saying that as long as the war persisted it would “not accept the presence at any of its events of official delegations, institutions or persons tied in any capacity to the Russian government,” and Russia did not take part in that year’s edition.
Russia was also absent from the 2024 Biennale and instead lent its pavilion to Bolivia.
Yet in March, the Biennale announced that Russia would return for this year’s event, which opened in May and runs through Nov. 22.
In the end, Russia’s pavilion opened to visitors only for the art show’s preview week. It featured an exhibition titled “The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky” consisting of performances by musicians from Russia and elsewhere, with styles ranging from folk to techno.
Although it was open for only a few days, the pavilion faced numerous protests, including by Pussy Riot, the dissident Russian artist collective.
Now, visitors to the Biennale are not allowed to enter the pavilion, but they can still watch video recordings of the original performances playing on screens visible through the windows. Visitors can also vote for Russia to win the Visitor’s Lion award for the best national pavilion.
The Biennale did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Last week, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told TASS, Russia’s state news agency, that he saw Europe’s threat to remove the funding as a move “to cancel our culture.”
“Attempts to erase Russian culture, one of the richest civilizational cultures on Earth, are a sad development,” he said.
