About a dozen stalls were shut Friday at the Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition ahead of its opening to the public as artists protested the inclusion of Israel in the event.

The exhibit has been beset by controversy in the weeks leading up to Saturday’s opening with no Golden Lion prizes given for best national pavilion or best participant in the main curated exhibition after the jury quit in protest of Israel’s and Russia’s participation and loud protests outside the countries’ pavilions.

Friday’s strike was called by the Art Not Genocide Alliance to protest Israel’s inclusion due to the war against Hamas in Gaza that was sparked by the October 7, 2023 massacre.

The coalition initially said that some 20 pavilions would be shut, but in the end only 12 took part, with some citing a walkout by local workers. Others flew Palestinian flags or displayed pro-Palestinian artwork.

Among those shut were the Belgian, Dutch, Austrian, Japanese, Macedonian and Korean pavilions, while the British, Spanish, French, Egyptian, Finnish and Luxembourg entries closed for several hours, the UK’s Guardian reported.

Visitors trying to enter the Biritsh pavilion were met with a sign saying: “Due to the Italian cultural workers’ strike today, it is not possible to open the British pavilion,” the Guardian said.

NEW | Artists shut down Venice Biennale pavilions in protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza – The Guardian Several pavilions at the 2026 Venice Biennale were shut down after artists and cultural workers launched a strike protesting Israel’s inclusion amid its ongoing genocide… pic.twitter.com/2ealxMEf5n Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#Article_Incontent1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: 'Article_Incontent1', baseDivId: 'Article_Incontent1', } ]); }); } — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 9, 2026

NEW | Artists shut down Venice Biennale pavilions in protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza – The Guardian

Several pavilions........

© The Times of Israel