Overview
- The Biennale, which opened to the public Saturday, dropped its Golden Lion jury awards and will use visitor voting, with winners due November 22.
- Following Friday's 24-hour strike led by the Art Not Genocide Alliance, roughly 18 to 27 national pavilions closed in full or in part and thousands marched, with police pushing back crowds outside Israel's space.
- Russia returned under tight limits after EU officials warned its presence could breach sanctions, with organizers keeping its pavilion to press previews and closing it to the public and risking the loss of about €2 million in EU funding.
- Fifty-two artists in the main show and several national representatives said they will not be considered for the new Visitor Lions in solidarity with the resigned jury.
- Koyo Kouoh’s central exhibition, In Minor Keys, stays open with works by about 110 artists, even as leaders argue the Biennale must remain open to state-backed pavilions under Italian recognition rules.