Venice Mayor Warns Russia’s Biennale Pavilion Could Be Closed Over Propaganda as EU Funding Threat Looms
Venice is signaling that Russia’s return to the Venice Biennale will be tolerated only within strict limits.
On March 19, Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro said the Russian pavilion would be shut down if it is used for propaganda, while also arguing that the city should remain a place for cultural diplomacy and exchange. Brugnaro made the comments during the presentation of the Biennale’s newly reopened Central Pavilion, which has returned to public view after a 16-month renovation costing €31 million.
“If the Russian government were to carry out propaganda, we would be the first to close the pavilion,” Brugnaro said in remarks reported by Italian media including the Ansa news agency. At the same time, he emphasized Venice’s tradition of openness, adding in comments reported by Il Sole 24 Ore that while Russia “as a state that invaded Ukraine” is “a problem,” “the Russian people are not.” Brugnaro also reiterated his support for Ukraine, noting that Venice has been twinned with Odessa.
The mayor’s intervention comes amid a widening rift between Biennale leadership and Italy’s government over Russia’s proposed participation in 2026. On March 3, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s international cultural envoy, announced that Russia would take part with a musical program centered on folklore and world music. If realized, it would mark Russia’s first appearance at the Biennale since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The announcement has placed Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, on opposing sides of a politically charged question: whether Russia can participate without violating sanctions or undermining the Biennale’s standing with European partners.
Giuli has called for the resignation of Tamara Gregoretti, the Ministry of Culture’s representative to the Biennale, and has demanded full documentation of the plans for the Russian pavilion, including any potential breaches of sanctions on Russia. The pressure intensified after the European Union threatened to withdraw funding from the Biennale if Russia participates.
The Biennale, for its part, has insisted it is operating within the law. In a statement issued Tuesday, the institution said: “No regulations have been violated and sanctions against the Russian Federation have been fully complied with, as is our duty.”
Buttafuoco has also sought to frame the 2026 program through the lens of dissent and debate. In a letter published by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, he said the Biennale would create a space marking the 50th anniversary of Carlo Ripa di Meana’s Biennale del Dissenso (Biennale of Dissent), a series of exhibitions in Venice that historically platformed dissident artists from the Soviet bloc alongside philosophical discussion.
According to Buttafuoco, the 2026 iteration would host “five current figures who are highly unpopular with their governments: the US, Israel, China, Russia, and even the EU.” He also described a separate program, “The Pillar and Ground of Truth,” comprising five evenings devoted to Pavel Florensky, an Orthodox priest and philosopher executed during Joseph Stalin’s Great Terror in 1937.
The Florensky focus has drawn attention for its political ambiguity. While Florensky was a victim of Soviet repression, Putin has promoted him as a foundational thinker for the Russky mir, or “Russian World,” a concept closely associated with contemporary Kremlin ideology.
The debate has also prompted a pointed response from Pussy Riot, the feminist punk collective known for its opposition to the Russian state. In an Instagram statement posted March 19, the group warned that “accommodating official state representation while curating ‘dissent’ risks turning the latter into a performative gesture and virtue-signaling rather than a position.” Still, Pussy Riot said it would participate if the Biennale is serious about welcoming artists who do not align with state narratives.
The group underscored the stakes of that claim, noting that it has been deemed “an extremist organisation” in Russia and that even visiting its website or liking images of its work has been criminalized.
With the Biennale’s leadership asserting sanctions compliance, the Italian government demanding documentation, and the EU raising the prospect of financial consequences, the question now is whether Venice can sustain its self-image as a forum for dialogue while policing the boundary between cultural presence and political messaging.
