EU Threatens Funding Of Major Art Fair Over Russia's Return
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Russia's Venice Biennale pavilion was closed after the Ukraine invasion but, as the Winter Paralympics show, Russia is now returning to the global stage.
ROME, March 11 (Reuters) - The European Commission has threatened to withdraw funding from the Venice Biennale art exhibition if organisers proceed with plans to allow Russia to reopen its pavilion at this year’s edition.
Russia’s pavilion at the art fair was closed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which triggered the exclusion of Russian artists and institutions from major European cultural events.
“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,” an EU statement said.
It added it would examine further action “including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation,” which organises the contemporary visual arts event that runs from May to December in Venice’s historic shipyards, known as the Arsenale.
Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco described the festival as “a space of coexistence for the whole planet” without censorship, which should also be open to countries in conflict.
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