Ukraine Appeals to Venice Biennale Over Russia's Participation

The call from Ukrainian officials comes in response to reports that Russia is set to open a national pavilion at this year's Venice Biennale. In their statement, they emphasized that the Biennale, as a prominent global arts platform, must not become a venue that normalizes Russia's ongoing military aggression against Ukraine.

Since 2014, Russia has been systematically destroying cultural heritage sites in Ukraine, in violation of international humanitarian law, including the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Statistics reveal the extent of cultural losses caused by the war.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, at least 346 artists and 132 media workers have died, including foreign nationals. Additionally, Russian forces have destroyed or damaged over 1,700 cultural heritage sites and 2,503 cultural infrastructure objects in Ukraine, with 558 completely destroyed.

Ukraine's leaders argue that permitting Russian representatives to participate in international cultural events sends a harmful signal regarding the war's legitimacy. They recalled that on February 27, 2022, the Biennale organizers condemned the Russian aggression and supported peace and dialogue.

Current calls for Russia's inclusion are viewed as contradictory, given Russia's ongoing military activities and refusal to engage in peaceful negotiations. The Ukrainian officials' statement noted that Russia has a history of using culture as a tool for political influence and has engaged in a systematic policy of cultural expansion and forced Russification in occupied Ukrainian territories.

The officials highlighted that Russian culture is inseparable from the militaristic regime currently in power, with serious implications for the perception of art and cultural exchange. Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the connections of the appointed commissioner for the Russian pavilion, Anastasia Karneeva, to the country's military-industrial complex.

Such ties illustrate how the cultural narrative in Russia is often intertwined with state propaganda for aggression. The statement underscored the necessity for the Venice Biennale to maintain its neutrality by excluding Russia, thereby protecting the integrity of the cultural sector from state-sponsored narratives of war.

The Ukrainian government insists that adherence to the values of freedom, human dignity, and international law should guide the global arts community, emphasizing solidarity with the Ukrainian people and their culture under threat.