Nine days before the world’s most prestigious art exhibition opens its doors, the Venice Biennale has no jury and no winners. All five members of the international jury resigned on Thursday, choosing collective exit over the farce of evaluating work from countries whose leaders face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

The jurors — Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi — had announced the previous week that they would not award prizes to nations “whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity” by the ICC. The statement named no countries, but everyone understood it meant Russia and Israel. ICC arrest warrants have been issued for both Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Biennale, which has long insisted it is “an open institution” that “rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of art,” found itself trapped between that principle and a jury unwilling to lend legitimacy to two pariah states. Russia is returning to its pavilion for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Israel’s pavilion, shuttered since the start of the Gaza war, reopens this year with sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru.

The fallout has been swift. The European Commission is pulling a €2 million grant. Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, has declared a personal boycott and sent inspectors to the Biennale’s Venice headquarters. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Russia’s participation was “not shared by the government,” while acknowledging the Biennale’s autonomy.

Rather than replace the jury, the Biennale will let ticket holders vote for their favorite pavilion. The Golden Lion ceremony has been postponed from the opening on 9 May to the closing on 22 November.

The world’s most important art exhibition will now award its top prizes by popular vote. Geopolitics didn’t just show up at the Venice Biennale — it moved in.

Sources