The jury of the Venice Biennale resigned after the exclusion of Russia and Israel

The Venice Biennale jury resigned today, April 30, nine days before the opening of the largest international art exhibition. This is reported on the official portal of the event.

All five members of the jury resigned, including this year's chairman Solange Farkas. The reasons for such a radical decision are not indicated in the organizers' statement.

According to Reuters, the resignation occurred after the visit of the inspector of the Ministry of Culture of Italy Alessandro Giuli, who announced his refusal to attend the opening of the biennale. It is also possible that the reason for the resignation was the organizers' plans, in which visitors were going to be allowed to vote for any projects, including Russia and Israel.

As EADaily reported, a week earlier, the jury of the exhibition issued a statement that it would not consider the projects of countries whose leaders are accused by the International Criminal Court of crimes against Humanity. Specific countries were not named, but this step actually excluded Russia and Israel from the list of contenders for major awards.

After that, Israeli artist and sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru accused the jury members of racial discrimination, threatening to sue.

Russia's preparations for the Biennale this year have caused a wide response on Ukraine and the pro-Ukrainian West. The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine published a joint outraged statement. It calls on the organizers of the event to reconsider the decision on the return of the Russian Federation.

The European Commission, after several warnings, threatened to withdraw the grant of the Venice Biennale in the amount of € 2 million in the event of Russia's participation. The head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, stated that "she (Russia) simply should not be allowed to exhibit." The organizers of the biennale were given 30 days to resolve the issue with the participation of Russia, otherwise the grant will be canceled.

This is not the entire amount of funding for the Biennale, there remains a significant part in the amount of € 19 million, which is mainly provided by the Italian government.

This year the Venice Biennale starts on May 9.