EU pulls $2.4 million from Venice Biennale over Russia's return

MILAN (AP) — The EU is slashing a 2-million-euros ($2.4 million) grant to the Venice Biennale over Russia's participation in the 61st contemporary art show opening May 9, the commission announced Thursday.

The European Commission has informed the Biennale foundation of the funding cut, and the Biennale has 30 days to defend its decision to include Russia for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Thursday. The commission had previously announced its intention to do so.

“We are strongly condemning the fact that the Fondazione di Biennale has allowed for the Russian Pavilion to open again,’’ Regnier said.

Russian artists withdrew their participation in 2022, and Russia did not present an exhibition in 2024 for its permanent pavilion, which it instead lent to Bolivia. Russia last participated in the International Art Exhibition in 2019.

The Biennale said in a statement that it “does not have the authority to prevent a country from participating. Any country recognized by the Italian Republic may request to participate.’’

Since Russia owns the pavilion built in 1914 in the historic Giardini, it was required only to send notification of its request to participate, the Biennale said.

“La Biennale di Venezia rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art. The Biennale, like the city of Venice, continues to be a place of dialogue, openness and artistic freedom, encouraging connections between peoples and cultures, with the constant hope for an end to conflicts and suffering,’’ the Biennale said.

The Biennale contemporary art exhibition is the world's oldest and most important, comprising a main exhibition alongside national pavilions, which are curated separately by the participating nations. For this edition, 99 nations will present national pavilions, 29 of those in the Giardini and the rest spread through the Arsenale and across the city.

The Biennale has in the past refused pressure to exclude countries, including Iran and Israel, from participating.

Cook reported from Brussels.