Overview
- More than 100 participants in the 61st Venice Biennale published an open letter on June 3 saying they will begin legal action unless the Foundation removes their names from the Visitors’ Lions voting materials.
- The group comprises roughly 67 artists from the central exhibition and 39 representatives of national pavilions who first asked to be withdrawn on May 9 and sent a follow-up letter on May 20.
- La Biennale di Venezia says it emailed the signatories on May 28 to acknowledge the request but kept the names on ballots to “guarantee all visitors their freedom of expression” and pledged not to count votes cast for withdrawn artists.
- Artists say ballots were sent to ticketed visitors on May 14 with withdrawn names listed and that the Foundation failed to properly accommodate or publicly remove those names, which they call confusing for audiences and disrespectful to exhibitors.
- The dispute follows the jury’s April resignation after it vowed to exclude pavilions whose countries face International Criminal Court scrutiny and sits alongside protests, pavilion closures and a 24‑hour cultural strike that have raised questions about the Biennale’s governance and legal exposure.