Unprecedented crisis at the Venice Biennale: the international jury resigned unanimously just before the start of the 2026 edition, after the organizers allowed Russia to participate. The resignation leaves the organizers to completely reorganize the awards system.
The international jury of the Venice Art Biennale announced this evening its unanimous resignation, just nine days before the start of this year’s edition.
The decision comes amid a dispute over the evaluation criteria for participants. On April 23, the jury sent a letter of intent announcing that it intended not to consider works from countries whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, referring to Russia and Israel, according to Culturaladuba.
According to the organizers, almost 40 Russian artists were to participate in the exhibition entitled “The tree is rooted in the sky”, hosted in the Russian Pavilion in the Biennale gardens. Artists from Ukraine, Belarus, Iran, Israel and the United States are also expected at the event.
In the statement sent later, the jury confirmed the collective withdrawal from the judging process of the current edition.
Russia, excluded from the Venice Biennale in the 2022 and 2024 editions, in the context of the war in Ukraine, returned to the exhibition program this year.
Also, Israel, which was not represented in 2024, returns to the event after, in the previous edition, the designated artists refused to open the pavilion, in protest against the continuation of the conflict in Gaza.
According to the cited source, following the resignation of the jury, the president of the Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, announced the change to the official calendar. Thus, the awards ceremony will be moved from May 9 to November 22.
At the same time, in the absence of a jury, the organizers decided that the main awards – the Golden Lion for the best artist and the Golden Lion for the best pavilion – would be awarded by the visitors’ vote.
The Venice Biennale is set to open its doors on May 9.
