CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Brussels, Russia and the Venice Biennale: Art as Politics and Hypocrisy

First edition official poster. Photograph Source: Cyril S – Public Domain

The jury at the Venice Biennale Art Exhibition have outdone themselves.  Few juries at any art or literary festival can be trusted at the best of times, their judgment likely to be swayed by factions, self-interest and the ethically sapping succour of the gravy train (the global art scene is an enormous racket after all), but to see such figures take a moral stand is a peculiar thing indeed.

The stand in question, which took the form of a mass resignation, was initiated in response to the decision to permit Russian participation for the first time since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, even if the country had self-absented itself.  (Russia, indeed, has its own permanent exhibition space in the Giardini.)  In a terse statement, the jury set out “our intention – to express our commitment to the defence of human rights.”  In doing so, it would “refrain from considering those countries whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.”  This meant excluding artists from both Israel and Russia, as their sitting leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanu and President Vladimir Putin both face ICC warrants for their arrest.

The organisers had taken a different view in considering Russia’s participation, deeming the re-admission of its artists as “consistent with the founding spirit of La Biennale, based on openness, dialogue, and the rejection of any form of closure or censorship.”  Given........

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