Russia at the Biennale, Buttafuoco: space for dissidents. Giuli asks Mic representative to step back

On the condemnation from 22 EU countries and the EU executive itself of the Biennale's decision to allow Russia to reopen its National Pavilion at this year's exhibition, EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier recalled that "The Biennale Foundation receives support under the European programme 'Creative Europe Media' for film production, film markets and training. It is a subsidy of two million euro for a period of three years, intended to support film producers, immersive technologies and training activities". And there is the possibility of further actions being considered, including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Foundation.

"The Biennale is an independent and free institution. We are in a democracy, not a dictatorship. We are for Ukraine without ifs and buts. There is Ukraine, an aggressed state, and there is an aggressor state. Another thing is the Russian people, with whom we are not at war'. This was said on Wednesday by the Mayor of Venice, during the presentation of the collaboration agreement for the 'Polo del Mare' at the Arsenale, regarding the presence of the Russian pavilion at the Art Biennale. Recalling that 'with my family we hosted Ukrainian refugees, we twinned with Odessa, where I also went personally in 2023', Brugnaro added that 'we are a place of diplomacy, Venice is a place of freedom. We cannot move as dictatorships do, because we are a democracy. In a place of culture we must listen and dialogue. They say that 'whoever touches the sea, touches the world'. Ours is absolutely not a partisan political choice, but one that we claim as a defence of democracy, of our democracy,' he concluded.

Russia has not been invited to the61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, which will take place from Saturday 9 May to Sunday 22 November 2026 with the participation of 99 countries and 31 collateral events. The presence of the Russian Federation derives from an ordinary procedure laid down in the event regulations for countries that have their own pavilion at the Giardini. Russia has owned a pavilion at the Giardini since 1914. A total of 29 countries own a national pavilion at the Biennale, to which Qatar will be added as of this year. As the Venetian Institution, chaired by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, has repeatedly clarified, it is the countries recognised by the Italian Republic that autonomously request to participate in the Biennale exhibitions. In the case of states owning a pavilion at the Giardini - such as Russia - the procedure consists of a simple communication of the desire to participate.