70+ Artists Withdraw from Venice Biennale Awards
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- More than 70 artists withdrew from the Golden Lion awards, which will be chosen by public vote.
- Artists withdrew in solidarity with the resignation of the jury selected by Koyo Kouoh, artistic director of the 61st edition.
- Walid Raad signed the protest statement alongside Alice Maher, Laurie Anderson, Pio Abad, and Alfredo Jaar, with national pavilion signatories including Yto Barrada, Isabel Nolan, Egle Budvytyte, and Dries Verhoeven.
- The five‑person prize jury resigned in late April amid a dispute over the participation of Israel and Russia, after stating it would exclude artists from countries whose leaders face arrest warrants for crimes against humanity.
- Biennale management introduced a Visitor Lion award system where ticket holders who visited both venues during the opening period could vote, with voting open from 9 May to 22 November and results announced at the closing.
- National pavilions staged a strike, closing nearly 20 pavilions in protest against Israel’s participation, while over 200 people demonstrated outside the Israeli pavilion and groups like Pussy Riot and FEMEN staged actions at the Russian pavilion.
- Pietrangelo Buttafuoco warned that banning countries would contradict the Biennale’s mission to be “the place where the world comes together”.
Why it matters: By rejecting the Visitor Lion awards, the artists deprive the Biennale of its flagship prize’s prestige, intensifying scrutiny of the exhibition’s handling of geopolitical disputes and signaling that the event’s credibility now hinges on its ability to reconcile artistic autonomy with political controversy.
