Russia’s planned participation in this year’s Venice Biennale may constitute a “breach of contract”, which could lead to the EU withholding a €2-million funding package for the event, Reuters reported on Thursday.
At a news conference in Brussels, European Commission spokesperson Thomas Régnier condemned the decision by the Fondazione Biennale to allow Russia to participate in the seven-month contemporary art show, saying that “culture in Europe should promote and safeguard democratic values”, which he said were not honoured in today’s Russia.
Régnier explained that the commission’s funding for the Biennale was at stake, referencing an “ongoing project of €2 million” supporting film producers at the festival. “If there is a breach of the contract, like we have with any grant agreement, the commission will terminate or suspend the contract”.
Régnier’s statement comes two days after a press release from the European Commission on Tuesday, which urged member states to “avoid giving a platform to individuals who have actively supported or justified the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine”, and promised further action against the Biennale’s organisers, including the suspension or termination of its EU funding.
The announcement last week that Russia would be participating in the 2026 Biennale drew immediate backlash, including from the governments of Ukraine and 21 other European countries.
In a joint letter to Fondazione Biennale president and former right-wing journalist Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, European culture ministers argued that “granting Russia a prestigious international cultural platform sends a deeply troubling signal”, and called for the organisers to reconsider their decision.
Russia has never been formally barred from the Venice Biennale, but chose not to open their pavilion at the last iteration of the festival in 2024, having previously been unable to participate in 2022 due to the last-minute withdrawal of the Russian artists contracted for its pavilion due to their opposition to the war in Ukraine. The Fondazione Biennale has stressed that it does not decide which countries are able to participate in the exhibition, as the nations themselves own the pavilions at the event.
The organisers’ assertion has been refuted by Russian opposition groups, including feminist art collective Pussy Riot, who told their followers on Instagram that allowing Russia to participate would constitute “a political decision by Italy”.
“The Russian pavilion is not an embassy: it is not sovereign territory and does not have diplomatic status”, Pussy Riot said. “This means that the Italian government, the authorities of Venice, and the Biennale itself can say ‘no’ to Russia if they choose to.”
