Overview
- The European Commission issued a formal warning to the Biennale to rethink Russia’s return and threatened to suspend €2 million in EU support if it proceeds.
- Italy’s leaders split, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opposing Russia’s participation and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini calling the EU threat vulgar blackmail.
- For the U.S. Pavilion, the State Department replaced its expert-panel system with the new American Arts Conservancy led by Jenni Parido working with curator Jeffrey Uslip, and Alma Allen was picked after some prominent artists declined.
- South Africa’s pavilion will be empty after Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie demanded changes to Gabrielle Goliath’s work and blocked her when she refused.
- The Biennale will open with Koyo Kouoh’s posthumous main exhibition as nearly 200 participants sign an Art Not Genocide Alliance letter urging Israel’s exclusion, signaling wider efforts to bar states tied to current wars.