Russia to be represented at the Venice Biennale for the first time since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine

This May, Russia will open its pavilion at the Venice Biennale for the first time since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The country’s participation was confirmed to ARTnews by former Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvydkoy, who currently serves as Putin’s special representative for international cultural cooperation.

In 2022, Russian artists Kirill Savchenkov and Alexandra Sukhareva, alongside Lithuanian curator Raimundas Malašauskas, withdrew from the Biennale, calling the war “politically and emotionally unbearable” and saying that “art has no place” against the background of the conflict. At the following Biennale in 2024, Russia handed over the keys to its pavilion in the Giardini gardens to Bolivia, which staged a joint exhibition between Bolivian and other Latin American artists.

Shvydkoy said that Russia “never left” the Biennale and that it is therefore inaccurate to call this a “return.” According to him, the new project, titled “The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky,” will bring together more than 50 young musicians, poets, and philosophers from Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Mali, and Mexico. The concept is based on the notion that “politics exists in a temporal dimension, whereas cultures communicate in eternity.”

Shvydkoy also described the reopening of the pavilion as evidence of the “failure of Western attempts to cancel Russian culture,” citing as another example Konstantin Bronzit’s recent Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category. With regard to possible protests, Shvydkoy said that “any provocations against Russian cultural figures are possible,” but expressed hope for “the triumph of common sense.”

The leadership of the Venice Biennale declined to comment on the substance of the matter, noting that the organization does not make decisions regarding the participation of national pavilions — countries do so independently. The Israeli pavilion will also open in May, but it will be moved from its permanent building in the Giardini to the Arsenale — at the 2024 Biennale, it was closed to the public following protests on the opening day.

The Kremlin frequently mixes politics and culture, including in the field of international sport. Recently it became known that the Russian Paralympic Committee is actively recruiting participants in the war against Ukraine who have sustained disabilities. In hospitals and rehabilitation centers, committee representatives are seeking candidates for the country’s various national teams.