Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Withdraw From Awards En Masse

Nearly half of the artists involved in the international exhibition, along with 16 national pavilions, signed a withdrawal statement in support of the jury’s resignation.

The Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale closed on May 8 as part of cultural workers’ strike for Palestine. (photo Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)

As the 61st Venice Biennale opens to the public on May 9, 54 artists from the international exhibition and 16 national pavilion teams have announced their withdrawal from awards consideration, aligning themselves with the jury’s resignation. A detailed list of the withdrawing artists, duos, and collectives is provided at the conclusion of this article.

The jury of the Biennale resigned on April 30, following a declaration that they would exclude from awards any countries whose leaders are currently indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which excluded Israel and Russia. The Biennale Foundation confirmed to Hyperallergic that before the jury’s resignation, Israel Pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru filed legal warnings, claiming the jury’s stance was antisemitic and discriminatory based on nationality.

Consequently, the Foundation canceled the Golden Lion awards for this year and introduced the “Visitor Lions,” determined by public voting, to be announced on the Biennale’s last viewing day, November 22. The Biennale clarified that all national pavilions, including Israel and Russia, would be eligible for these new awards.

Today, nearly half of the 111 artists, duos, and collectives in In Minor Keys, along with 16 national pavilion exhibitors, announced their withdrawal from the Visitor Lions consideration in a statement on e-flux.

This announcement follows ongoing protests at the Russian and Israeli pavilions during the preview period and a significant labor strike that closed several pavilions and the Arsenale complex, where Israel’s temporary pavilion is located.

Hyperallergic has contacted the Biennale press office for further comments.

When the Biennale Foundation announced the participation of Israel and Russia for the 61st Venice Biennale in early March, many In Minor Keys artists and pavilion exhibitors demanded the exclusion of Israel. Carolina Caycedo, among others, expressed to Hyperallergic her concern about being forced into complicity by sharing the Arsenale with the Israeli State Pavilion, which had not been there before.

The signatories are as follows:

In Minor Keys

Fabric Aragno

arms ache avid aeon

Sammy Baloji

Éric Baudelaire

Sabian Baumann

Nancy Brooks Brody Estate

BuBu de la madeleine

Carolina Caycedo

Annalee Davis

Bonnie Devine

Nolan Oswald Dennis

rana elnemr

Joy Episalla

Rachel Fallon

Sofía Gallisá Muriente

Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige

Sohrab Hura

Mohammed Joha

fierce pussy

Alfredo Jaar

Michael Joo

Nina Katchadourian

Guadalupe Maravilla

Natalia Lassalle Morillo

Florence Lazar

Zoe Leonard

Alice Maher

Sally Mizrachi

Avi Mograbi & Avital Barak

Tuan Andrew Nguyen

Otobong Nkanga

Hagar Ophir

Uriel Orlow

Alan Phelan

Walid Raad

Mohammed Z. Rahman

Tabita Rezaire

Guadalupe Rosales

Yo-E Ryou

Rose Salane

Carrie Schneider

Hala Schoukair

Berni Searle

Yoshiko Shimada

Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser

Cauleen Smith

Vera Tamari

Jo-ey Tang

Carrie Yamaoka

Raed Yassin

Thania Petersen

National Pavilion Exhibitors

Belgium
Miet Warlop, Artist; Caroline Dumalin, Curator & Team

Luxembourg
Aline Bouvy & Stilbé Schroeder

France
Yto Barrada

Slovenia
Nonument Group (Neja Tomšič, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Nika Grabar, Miloš Kosec); Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Curator

Latvia
MAREUNROL’S, Bruno Birmanis & Team

Lithuania
Egle Budvytyte, Artist; Louise O’Kelly, Curator

Switzerland
Gianmaria Andreetta, Luca Beeler, Miriam Laura Leonardi, Lithic Alliance, Yul Tomatala, Nina Wakeford

Spain
Oriol Vilanova

The Netherlands
Dries Verhoeven, Artist; Rieke Vos, Curator

Poland
Bogna Burska & Daniel Kotowski, Artists; Ewa Chomicka & Jolanta Woszczenko, Curators

Ecuador
Boloh Miranda, Tatiana Lopez, Sani Montahuano, Mukutsawa Montahuano, Enoc Merino, Tawna Collective

Ireland
Isabel Nolan, Artist; Georgina Jackson, Curator; Cian O’Brien, Producer

Kosovo
Brilant Milazimi

Finland
Juha Huuskonen, Commissioner

Czech Republic and Slovakia
Jakub Jansa, Selmeci Kocka Jusko, Artists; Peter Sit, Curator

Cyprus
Marina Xenofontos