VENICE, Italy (AP) 鈥� Russian punk group and members of swarmed the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale under a cloud of pink, blue and yellow smoke to protest Russia鈥檚 participation at the world鈥檚 oldest international art exhibition.
Their faces covered with pink balaclavas and shouting 鈥淏lood is Russia鈥檚 art鈥� and 鈥淒isobey,鈥� 50 members of feminist groups opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin blockaded the highly controversial pavilion for at least half an hour while Italian police prevented them from getting inside.
They chanted, played a punk rock song and dispersed without confrontation.
After years of war, 鈥測ou guys just opened the door to them,鈥� said Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, adding that the Biennale had not comprehended the importance of 鈥渟o-called soft power, things, things that seemingly for some people are not important or not political.鈥�
鈥淔or Russia, it鈥檚 clear that it鈥檚 part of their military strategy, and that鈥檚 the way they try to conquer the West,鈥� she said.
Discord marks the Biennale
This year is the first time Russia has participated in the international art exhibit since its . The opening has already cost the Biennale 2 million euros ($2.3 million) in EU funding, and plunged the normally serene week of previews into chaos after the jury resigned in protest of both Russia and Israel’s participating, citing crimes against humanity.
The Biennale has defended its decision saying that any country with relations with Italy is free to participate in the exhibition, despite opposition from Premier ‘s government.
The protest comes on the second day of VIP previews for art world luminaries and journalists ahead of the Biennale鈥檚 opening on Saturday.
The run-up to Biennale’s 61st edition is the most contested in recent memory, reflecting global turmoil that is spilling over into the exhibition that features 100 national pavilions and 110 artist and artist groups participating in the main curated exhibition titled 鈥淚n Minor Keys.鈥�
Palestinians have also protested Israel’s participation with actions in the Giardini.
Russia is one of 29 countries with a pavilion in the historic Giardini venue, and one of the oldest, dating from 1914, 19 years after the Biennale was founded in 1895.
The impact of jury’s resignation
The five-woman jury’s unprecedented resignation came after it announced that it would not award the prestigious Golden Lion prizes to countries under investigation by the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses, effectively isolating Russia and Israel.
British artist Anish Kapoor, who has opened an exhibition in his palazzo across Venice, called the jury 鈥渃ourageous.鈥�
鈥淭hey should have included the US of A in that list of countries excluded because of the politics of hate and war that has been going on now for too long,鈥欌�� he told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. 鈥淲hat these wonderful women say is that culture has a language that speaks to politics that is if you like enrolled, embedded in political discourse, even if it鈥檚 invisible.鈥�
Inside the Russian Pavilion
For all the controversy it unleashed, Russia鈥檚 pavilion, which features a series of musical performances, is scheduled to close before the official opening of the Biennale on May 9. The performances were being recorded to play through the window during the rest of the international exhibition, which closes Nov. 22.
Until Friday, visitors can fish a piece of discarded clothing from a bin inside the sparsely adorned pavilion, and wander upstairs where an open bar dispenses champagne and Prosecco next to a huge bouquet of flowers resembling a tree, visible through an open window from outside the Giardini walls.
On Tuesday, the first preview day, a small group of people danced to house music played by an Argentine DJ, while a pavilion spokesman wearing an animal mask refused to give his full name and said curators were not available for interviews.
Tolokonnikova said the only Russian art that should be shown is by dissidents who are jailed 鈥渇or mostly ridiculous charges.鈥�
鈥淭hose people make art, and I want that art to represent Russia, because they represent the real face of Russia,鈥欌�� she said.
Tolokonnikova said that efforts to contact the Biennale organizers to express their concerns had failed, and that to enter the Giardini venue, she had to use an assumed name to get through security.
In Russia, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Putin鈥檚 special envoy for international cultural cooperation, has welcomed Russia鈥檚 return to the Biennale, telling Russia鈥檚 news outlet RBC last month that 鈥淩ussian culture can鈥檛 be canceled.鈥�
Russia鈥檚 Antiwar Committee, a group of Kremlin critics and opposition activists in exile that formed after Moscow launched its all-out war on Ukraine and which has since been banned in Russia and declared a 鈥渢errorist organization,鈥� lauded the EU鈥檚 decision to pull funding.
鈥淭he participation of Putin鈥檚 representatives at one of the world鈥檚 foremost cultural forums is neither a gesture of openness nor a celebration of artistic freedom,鈥欌�� the group said. 鈥淚t is a source of shame for Europe and a gift to the Russian propaganda machine.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
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