Art and war, or rather, art and geopolitics. How far does regime propaganda go, where do freedom and dissent begin? If, after all, it has any merit the 61st Pietrangelo Buttafuoco Art Biennale which opens its doors today for the "preview" and to the public on Saturday is to have reshuffled the cards to create a new hierarchy of priorities that sees art prevails over politics and diplomacy relegating embargoes and sanctions to that gray area that has always been uninhabited by creativity.
Art Biennale: What happened, in brief
Buttafuoco, right-wing intellectual but certainly not "organic" He strongly disagreed with Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli (who will skip the inauguration), Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European institutions regarding the reopening of the Russian pavilion, which has been closed since 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. A wave of controversy followed, with the Jury of the Art Biennale, chaired by Solange Farkas, who, in full autonomy, decided to do not award prizes to either Russia or Israel, that is, the two countries whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Then the arrival of the inspectors from Giuli's ministry and the resignation of the entire juryFinally, the decision not to award prizes by creating a “Visitors' Lion”.
The Biennale between chaos and keys
In short, a sort of “Major Kaos” which replaced the “Minor Keys” imagined as a logo by the curator of the exhibition, Koyo Kouoh from Cameroon, who died prematurely on May 10 last year at the age of 57.
For Buttafuoco, "history continually knocks on the door of what is never a decoration but the profound feeling that permeates art. We are here," says the president of the Biennale, "immersed in a living social reality, we are here to nourish ourselves with art, because art has an even greater power than any arrogance. Art destines us to the future and gives us the ability to erase catastrophes." Buttafuoco spoke yesterday in a space reminiscent of ancient battles (those between the Austrians and Napoleon), the Austrian Powder Magazine at Forte Marghera, one of the many military spaces (like the Venice Arsenal) converted to the needs of cultural institutions.
Marina Abramovic opens her exhibition at the Gallerie dell'Accademia
Marina Abramovic The Serbian artist doesn't want to be dragged into a controversy she feels is completely futile. She, the patroness of performance and visual art, is currently in Venice to inaugurate her exhibition at the Accademia Galleries to celebrate her 80th birthday. In 97, she won the Golden Lion at the Visual Arts Biennale with an installation made of thousands of bloodied bones, a tragic testament to the carnage unfolding during the war in the Balkans. "Art has always been," Abramovic says, "the goal of art has also been to create conditions for peace and unity among peoples. Art has always been a message of peace and unity." But regarding the reopening of the Russian pavilion, she cuts short: "It's not my place to intervene in these matters."
The Russian and Israeli pavilions
As for the fate of the Russian Pavilion inaugurated on April 29, 1914 from Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (exactly two months before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo which marked the beginning of the First World War) the proposal of the curator Anastasiia Karneevas (daughter of the deputy CEO of the Russian defense corporation Rostec) has entrusted the Gnessin Academy of Music with a performance entitled "The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky" during the four-day opening. Around thirty artists, not only Russian, but also Argentinian, Brazilian, Malian, and Russian, will perform music, art, and readings.
Mexicans. Once registration is complete, the Pavilion will be closed for the entire duration of the exhibition, until November 22. Russia in fact "could not obtain the authorizations to open the Pavilion to the public", explained the Biennale, and therefore visitors will be able to see the performance on large maxi-screens outside and also vote for her for the Visitors' Lion dedicated to the National Pavilions, after the readmission of Russia and Israel into the race from which they had been excluded by the Jury).
Il Israel Pavilion (at the Arsenale and not at the Giardini for renovation works) will host the artist Belu-Simion Fainaru with his sculptures, the protagonist of what the Israeli Foreign Ministry had called a "boycott." The opening—by invitation only—is scheduled for May 8th at 11:00 a.m.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, however, will not participate. Due to the impossibility of setting up the national pavilion due to the war situation, Iran had announced its participation in Venice in February before the outbreak of the war, and on that occasion announced that its commissioner was Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani. The official list now includes 100 National Participations, with the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Seychelles joining after the announcement on March 4th.
The program
From May 6th to 8th, the three-night series of the Biennale della Parola / Il dissenso e la pace (Biennial of the Word / Dissent and Peace) will take place in the Sala delle Colonne at Ca' Giustinian, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Admission is limited to those accredited for the pre-opening. The first event features Russian director and filmmaker Alexander Sokurov. The second, on May 7th, features Palestinian writer and architect Suad Amiry, and the third, on May 8th, features the artistic directors of the Biennale, Alberto Barbera, Caterina Barbieri, Willem Dafoe, Wayne McGregor, Wang Shu, and Lu Wenyu. With this series of events, the Biennale also responds to the dozens of Italian and Russian artists, intellectuals, and professors who have called for opening the doors to "true dissidents," thus giving a voice to the 31 imprisoned Russian artists.
