Russia at Venice Biennale: Italy's reaction, Pussy Riot protests and response from Ukrainian pavilion

After a four-year break, Russia is returning to the Venice Biennale. Mikhail Shvydkoi, Russia's delegate for international cultural exchanges and the country's former culture minister, said that Russia "never left" the world's largest art exhibition, while Italy's Ministry of Culture stated that it is not responsible for the country's participation in the Biennale.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda.Kultura (Culture)

Details: Meanwhile, the Russian feminist anti-Putin group Pussy Riot will perform in Venice in protest against Russia's return. Kseniia Malykh, curator of the Ukrainian pavilion, also commented on the participation of Russia.

Ukrainska Pravda.Kultura has compiled everything known so far about Russia's return.

Statement by Italy's Ministry of Culture

On the evening of 5 March, Italy's Ministry of Culture issued a statement saying that the decision regarding Russia's participation in the 61st Venice Biennale had been made independently by the Biennale Foundation despite the government's position. The ministry noted that it does not support this decision.

The Italian Ministry of Culture stressed that it continues to help Ukraine restore cultural heritage damaged by Russian strikes.

At the time of publication, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Culture and Tetiana Berezhna, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture, who is the commissioner of this year's Ukrainian pavilion in Venice, had not commented on the situation.

Pussy Riot protests

The Russian feminist anti-Putin group Pussy Riot will perform at the Venice Biennale in protest against Russia's return to the world's largest art exhibition.

Responding to Shvydkoi's statement that "eternity prevails over momentary concerns; culture prevails over politics… Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of understanding this", the group said: "Yes – Ukrainian children who have lost their parents and their homes will indeed not be able to understand that."

The group believes Russia's participation in the Biennale is a serious blow to Europe's security. Pussy Riot stressed that such a decision cannot depend solely on the Biennale Foundation.

Quote from Pussy Riot: "The Biennale consists of the main international exhibition and national pavilions. One of them is the Russian pavilion. However, although the building belongs to Russia, it is located in the Giardini, which are the property of the Italian state and the city of Venice, and it functions only through agreements with the Biennale. The president of the Biennale is appointed by the Italian government.

The Russian pavilion is not an embassy: it is not sovereign territory and does not have diplomatic status. This means that the Italian government, the authorities of Venice, and the Biennale itself can say "no" to Russia if they choose to.

If Russia participates in the Biennale, it means this is a political decision by Italy."

Details: The group therefore plans to stage a protest performance at the Biennale in support of Ukraine, the victims of Russian war crimes, Russian political prisoners and Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Statement by Kseniia Malykh, the curator of the Ukrainian pavilion

In a comment to Ukrainian Radio Culture, Kseniia Malykh said that the participation of Russian artists in the Biennale is perceived as legitimising Russia's actions in Ukraine. The decision has sparked criticism and protests from the Ukrainian community and international cultural organisations.

"The Biennale gave an official comment saying that this is not their decision. They do not decide which countries participate; those decisions are linked to states recognised by Italy. If Italy recognises a state, it can take part in the Venice Biennale," she said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian team continues to work on presenting its pavilion and cultural project.

"The main thing we have to do is present our project as strongly as possible. We have a very good project this year and we will attract as much attention to it as possible," Malykh said.

This year, the central object of the Ukrainian pavilion will be the sculpture Deer, evacuated from Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. The work was created in 2019 by artist Zhanna Kadyrova as part of the global reconstruction of Yuvileinyi Park. The sculpture occupies a pedestal where a Soviet jet aircraft once stood. The aircraft had been installed in the 1970s during the Cold War and was dismantled in 2005.

Malykh added that Russia's return did not come as a surprise to the Ukrainian cultural community. Over the past four years, Russia has attempted to re-enter various international platforms. In some cases, artists changed their positions or applied through other countries.

"There is the phenomenon of the so-called 'good Russians' who simply rewrote their biographies as artists and described themselves, for example, as Berlin-based artists. In other words, they tried to distance themselves from their Russian origin," the curator said.

On 4 March, the Venice Biennale published the list of participating countries in the world's largest art exhibition, which included Russia.

The Russian national pavilion will be titled The Tree is Rooted in the Sky, and its commissioner will be Anastasia Karneeva.

The Russian art consultant and contemporary art manager was appointed commissioner of the Russian pavilion in 2021 for the following eight years. However, Russia missed the Biennale twice, in 2022 and 2024.

Karneeva is the daughter of Nikolai Volobuyev, a retired general and deputy director of one of the largest defence corporations, Rostec. Previously, Volobuyev served as deputy head of Russia's Federal Customs Service and director for special assignments at Rosoboronexport. From 1975 to 2004, he served in the structures of the KGB of the USSR and later the FSB of Russia.

In 2014, Karneeva co-founded the art consulting company Smart Art together with Ekaterina Lavrova, the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

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