Overview
- A large pro-Palestinian march reached the Biennale’s gates and clashed with police guarding the Israeli pavilion at the Arsenale after protesters tried to breach a cordon.
- Several national pavilions shut their doors in solidarity actions, while Spain’s team briefly closed its space before officials ordered it reopened and the curators later posted a new closure sign.
- Organizers kept Russia in the lineup with access capped to press-preview days and exterior video only for the public run due to EU sanctions, as president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco defended cultural dialogue and the European Commission threatened to pull €2 million while Italy sent inspectors.
- All five jurors resigned on April 30, and the Biennale replaced the prize process with a public vote set for November.
- Koyo Kouoh’s ‘In Minor Keys’ remains the curatorial spine of the show, and Austria’s pavilion has drawn long lines with a climate-crisis piece featuring a urine-fed snorkel tank and a live human bell.