Overview
- Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on March 8 condemned Russia’s reinstatement, calling it a dangerous normalization of aggression and citing extensive attacks on Ukrainian culture since 2014.
- Italy’s Culture Ministry said the Biennale Foundation decided independently and stated that the government does not support Russia’s participation.
- Biennale officials said the event rejects exclusion and censorship, with president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco describing the exhibition as a space of truce where art should prevail over geopolitics.
- Pussy Riot said it will stage a protest in Venice, arguing the pavilion sits on Italian state land in the Giardini and could be refused, and calling the inclusion a serious blow to Europe’s security.
- Russia’s pavilion, titled The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky, is slated as a festival-style program to be filmed May 5–8 before the May 9 opening, with commissioner Anastasia Karneeva under scrutiny for ties to state and defense figures.