Overview
- Artists and unions staged a 24-hour strike Friday that led to partial or full closures at roughly 18 to 27 national pavilions, with teams dimming installations, posting statements, and joining street marches.
- The international jury quit in late April after vowing not to honor pavilions from states whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges, so organizers replaced the Golden Lions with visitor-voted prizes to be announced November 22.
- European Commission letters warned that hosting Russia could breach an EU ban on providing services, putting a €2 million grant at risk, and the Russian pavilion opened only for press previews before being closed to the public.
- Protests targeted Israel’s exhibition in the Arsenale, where police guarded entrances and crowds accused the pavilion of artwashing, while some artists in the main show added Palestinian flags or paused works.
- La Biennale said the strike did not involve its staff and that it is operating within the law, as the uproar revives long-running disputes over state-run pavilions and past exclusions such as apartheid-era South Africa.