The international jury of the Venice Biennale has resigned, the awards will be given by visitors

Milan – The international jury of the Venice Biennale has resigned. The management of the exhibition did not disclose the reasons for this step, which is likely related to the criticized presence of the Russian national exhibition and the jury's decision to exclude Israel from the awards, Italian media reported today. Thus, this year the awards, the Golden Lions, will be decided by the visitors of the exhibition. The resignation was announced just a week before the start of the Biennale on Wednesday, May 6.

All five jury members, led by Brazilian curator Solange Oliveira Farkas, submitted their resignations, the Biennale management announced on Thursday. The jury was supposed to award two main prizes – the Golden Lion for the best national exhibition and for the best participant in the main exhibition In Minor Keys.

The jury members had previously indicated that they would not judge national exhibitions from countries whose leaders are suspected of committing crimes against humanity. This was associated with Russia and Israel. The Italian news agency Adnkronos reported today that the resignation of the jury was largely influenced by the stance of the legal department of the Biennale management. According to them, the jury members could be held financially responsible for any damages caused by their decision to exclude Israel and Russia from the awards. At least one Israeli artist has announced that he might sue due to the de facto exclusion of Israel from the main prize.

The management of the exhibition also announced on Thursday that this year the main prizes would be awarded based on visitor voting. The award ceremony has therefore been postponed from May 9 to November 22, when the Biennale concludes. With an apparent reference to the previous jury's decision, the management stated that all states listed in the official list, including Russia and Israel, would compete for the Golden Lion for the best national exhibition. There was no time to appoint a new jury given that the Biennale starts next Wednesday, Adnkronos writes.

It was the Russian national participation that raised significant objections due to the war in Ukraine. The presence of artists selected by Russian state institutions was criticized by culture ministers from two dozen European countries. The European Commission threatened to withdraw EU funds from the Biennale, and the Italian Ministry of Culture, which does not have direct influence over the management of the exhibition, sent an inspection to Venice. On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that the government does not share the decision regarding the Russian pavilion. "I would not have made this decision," Meloni said about the Russian participation.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha today labeled the Biennale's decision to allow Russian national participation as cowardly. "The culture of the aggressor is never neutral in times of war," Sybiha stated, who again urged the management of the exhibition to change its decision and prevent Russian participation. Ukraine will also participate in the Biennale, but its national exhibition is located in a different area than the Russian national pavilion.

Russia was absent from the last two editions of the Biennale. In 2022, it was due to the resignation of the curator and artists in response to the start of the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. In 2024, Russia provided its pavilion to the national exhibition of Bolivia. In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the abduction of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia, and in 2024, an arrest warrant was also issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.

Czech Republic and Slovakia still have a joint pavilion in Giardini from the times of Czechoslovakia. For this year's Biennale, both national galleries have jointly selected a project titled The Silence of the Mole (Krtkovo ticho), created by the Slovak artistic duo Alex Selmeci and Tomáš Kocka Jusko, Czech artist Jakub Jansa, and curator Peter Sit.