Overview
- More than 100 participating artists said on June 3 that they will begin legal action unless the Venice Biennale Foundation removes their names from the Visitors’ Lions ballot and voids any votes already cast for them.
- The Visitors’ Lions are audience-voted awards created after the official awards jury resigned in April when it said it would exclude pavilions tied to leaders facing ICC allegations.
- Artists say they first asked to be withdrawn by letters on May 9 and May 20 and that Biennale ballots sent to ticketed visitors on May 14 still listed their names.
- The Biennale sent an email on May 28 saying it left names on the ballot to protect visitors’ freedom of expression and that votes for withdrawn artists would not be counted, a response artists dispute as inadequate.
- The dispute has widened an already tense Biennale season marked by protests, pavilion closures and scrutiny of funding and legal exposure, and it could force the foundation to change how it runs awards and handles artist consent.