The Venice Biennale Parties On Despite Protests, Policing, and Pushback |
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The Venice Biennale Parties On Despite Protests, Policing, and Pushback
The jury resigned and dozens of artists have withdrawn, but the Russian pavilion is still slinging vodka
The Venice Biennale Parties On Despite Protests, Policing, and Pushback
The jury resigned and dozens of artists have withdrawn, but the Russian pavilion is still slinging vodka
BY ARIELLA GARMAISE, GRETA RAINBOW
PHOTOS BY GRETA RAINBOW
Published 6:30, MAY 15, 2026
Often referred to as “the Olympics of the art world,” the Venice Biennale, which was founded in 1895, is one of the oldest, most storied exhibitions of its kind. This year, controversy has imploded its sixty-first iteration: on April 30, the five-person jury resigned in protest of the inclusion of Russian and Israeli pavilions, citing the International Criminal Court’s decision to charge Russian president Vladimir Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with war crimes. And while exhibition, and award recognition, at the Biennale can be the peak of an artist’s career, over eighty artists, curators, and exhibition staff have withdrawn from prize consideration in solidarity with the judges’ resignation.
The Biennale has always reflected the politics of its time: in 1968, the festival was consumed with student protests; in 1974, the Biennale director dedicated the festival to Chile and protests of the Augusto Pinochet regime; in 1977, the “Biennale of Dissent” featured unauthorized Soviet art, prompting the director to temporarily resign. The last iteration of the Biennale, in 2024, was even the subject of a Harper’s Magazine cover: “The Painted Protest: How politics destroyed contemporary art.”
Art critic, and frequent contributor to The Walrus, Greta Rainbow is currently in Italy reporting on the Biennale. I spoke with her about the geopolitics at play in the Giardini in Venice, how protests have shaped the festival and the work being shown, and why the Russian pavilion is still blasting music.
What has the mood at the festival been in light of the news of the jury’s resignation?
The Italian press dubbed this Biennale the “Biennale of Discord,” and you do really feel that. The resignation of the jury is just one of many hardships the Biennale has faced. It started a year ago, in May 2025, when Koyo Kouoh, the director and curator of the main exhibition called In Minor Keys, died suddenly of cancer. That was the beginning of the discombobulation, the confusion.
People are really horrified by Russia’s presence. Because Israel’s exhibition is tucked away, you’re not so immediately confronted with it. But Russia is blaring music out of their pavilion. They are intentionally being provocative, and they want you to stop and stare. People also feel awkward about how to talk about In Minor Keys, given the curator’s death. And the pall of war is hanging over everything.
How have the controversies played out at the pavilions themselves?
The American pavilion and the Israeli pavilion have police circling them. You see police permanently stationed at the Russian pavilion, which is very gross and uncanny. The Russian art is basically these big bouquets of flowers that have been slowly dying throughout the week, alongside fifty musicians, poets, and thinkers. And there’s an open bar.
Is it typical to have an open bar?
No. Other pavilions will pop champagne at an opening. But at the Russian pavilion, they have someone slinging free vodka. It feels like a statement. They’re saying: “We are allowed to be here. We are being protected.” Because it’s not about the art. They closed the pavilion when the press previews ended and the Biennale opened to the........