The international jury of the upcoming Venice Biennale Art Exhibition resigned en masse on Thursday in a row over the organization’s decision to allow Israel and Russia to participate in this year’s event.

The five-strong jury, headed by Brazilian curator Solange Farkas, said last week that “in the defense of human rights,” it would not consider works from countries whose leaders face charges at the International Criminal Court, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin do.

The jury’s decision to snub the two nations had been widely criticized in some quarters, with the Israeli artist showing at Venice, sculptor Belu Simion Fainaru, accusing the jury of racial discrimination and threatening legal action.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the “political jury,” accusing it of turning the event into a “spectacle of false, anti-Israeli political indoctrination.” Jerusalem has strenuously denied all accusations of war crimes and genocide, branding the charges as “antisemitic.”

The Venice Biennale is an international cultural organization started in 1895 that presents major cultural festivals and runs its flagship art and architecture exhibitions on alternating years.

Participating countries set up pavilions in Venice, and........

© The Times of Israel