Venice Biennale risks losing EU funding due to Russia’s planned participation | Venice Biennale

The European Commission has warned that it will cut funding for the Venice Biennale if organizers go ahead with plans to include Russia.

The committee reiterated that any breach of ethical standards by the art festival would be treated as a breach of contract, leading to the suspension of the €2m (£1.7m) agreement.

Commission spokesman Thomas Rainier said he could not anticipate a decision by EU lawyers on whether the contract had been violated, but stressed that the decision to include Russia was not in line with European values ​​and ethical standards.

He told reporters, “The committee condemns the Biennale Foundation’s decision to allow Russia to participate in the 2026 Biennale art exhibition.” “Because culture in Europe should promote and protect democratic values. It should promote open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression. These values ​​are not currently respected in Russia today.”

“If there is a breach of the contract… the committee will terminate or suspend the contract,” he said. A €2 million EU grant supports film projects at the Contemporary Arts Gallery.

Biennale organizers said last week that Russia would be allowed to participate in the art fair, which runs from May 9 to November 22, sparking a wave of anger and accusations from Ukraine that it was providing a “stage for the whitewashing of war crimes.”

Foreign and culture ministers from 22 countries called on organizers to rethink, citing the “systematic destruction of Ukrainian cultural life and heritage,” including the killing of at least 342 artists, and the damage or destruction of 1,685 cultural heritage sites and 2,483 cultural facilities. “In this context, giving Russia a prestigious international cultural platform sends a deeply worrying signal,” ministers mostly from EU countries and Ukraine wrote.

The letter was addressed to the Biennale’s board of directors and its president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, a right-wing journalist and public intellectual, who was appointed to the position in 2024 by the nationalist government of Giorgia Meloni.

Buttafuoco told La Repubblica newspaper last week that he invited people “from all conflict areas to share their views.” He added: “We believe that where there is art, there is dialogue.”

Meloni, despite her previous pro-Russian sympathies, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the all-out invasion in 2022. Her government opposes the Biennale’s resolution.

Earlier this week, European Commission Vice-President Hina Virkonen and EU Commissioner for Culture Glenn Micallef issued a statement condemning the biennale’s decision. “If the Biennale Foundation goes ahead with its decision to allow Russia’s participation, we will consider further measures, including suspending or terminating an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation,” they said.