"Member states, institutions and organisations must act in line with EU sanctions and avoid giving a platform to individuals who have actively supported or justified the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine. This decision by the Fondazione Biennale is not compatible with the EU's collective response to Russia's brutal aggression. Should the Fondazione Biennale go forward with its decision to allow Russia's participation, we will examine further action, including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation."
"Culture should never be used as a platform for propaganda. European stages must reflect European values. The EU's commissioners condemned the Biennale Foundation's decision to allow Russia to reopen its pavilion, emphasizing that this action contradicts the collective European response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and violates principles of democratic values."
The European Union has threatened to suspend or terminate its €2 million grant to the Venice Biennale Foundation if organizers proceed with allowing Russia to reopen its pavilion for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. EU commissioners Henna Virkkunen and Glenn Micallef stated that culture should never serve as a platform for propaganda and that member states must align with EU sanctions. The decision to permit Russian participation has drawn widespread opposition from Ukraine's government, Russian dissident cultural figures including Pussy Riot, and over 6,500 international intellectuals and cultural figures who signed an open letter protesting the normalization of war crimes through art.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]