Venice Art Biennale's jury resigns in protest over Russian, Israeli presence just days before festival

Prefer on Google by Kate Tsurkan A Venetian Gothic facade adorned with banners for the 2026 Venice Biennale, with European, Italian, and Venetian flags displayed above in Venice, Italy, on Feb. 25, 2026. (Riccardo Milani / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images) The five-member jury of the Venice Art Biennale announced on April 30 that it would resign in protest, just one week after it was announced that they would refrain from considering the work of countries whose leaders were charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Although no specific country was mentioned in either the jury's resignation or intention letters , both Russia and Israel are set to take part in the prestigious international art festival this year. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are subjects of active arrest warrants issued by the ICC. The jury's resignation comes just one day after the European Union's culture commissioner announced that he would boycott the Venice Art Biennale over Russia's presence. The run-up to this year's Venice Biennale has been overshadowed by a vocal pushback against Russia’s return, the country's first since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. With an appointment to her role by the Russian government and deep personal ties to Russia's military-industrial complex, the Russian pavilion's commissioner, Anastasia Karneeva, has reportedly organized a lineup aligned with the Kremlin agenda. Ukraine imposed sanctions on five members of the Russian pavilion on April 10, including Karneeva, and revealed on April 20 that it was pushing for the European Union to impose visa bans on those individuals. In its intention letter on April 23, the jury quoted former Venice Art Biennale artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who once said, "In refusing the spectacle of horror, the time has come to listen to the minor keys, to tune in sotto voce to the whispers, to the lower frequencies; to find the oases, the islands, where the dignity of all living beings is safeguarded." "As members of the jury, we also have a responsibility towards the historical role of the Biennale as a platform that connects art to the urgencies of its time," the jury added in its intention letter. "At this edition of the Biennale, we wish to set out our intention — to express our commitment to the defense of human rights and to the spirit of Koyo Kouoh’s curatorial project."