Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, has called on Tamara Gregoretti, the ministry’s representative on the board of the Venice Biennale, to step down after Russia was included among the participants in the 61st International Art Exhibition.
In a statement issued on 12th March, the Ministry of Culture said Giuli had asked Gregoretti to surrender her mandate because “the relationship of trust” had broken down. The ministry said she had neither warned officials of the possible presence of the Russian Federation at the forthcoming Biennale nor later informed them that she had expressed support for Russia’s participation, despite the international sensitivity of the issue.
The dispute followed the Biennale’s publication on 4th March of its list of national participations and collateral events for the 2026 exhibition. In that official list, Russia appears with a pavilion titled The tree is rooted in the sky, with Anastasiia Karneeva named as commissioner. The Biennale listing also identifies the Russian pavilion’s venue as the Giardini.
Russia’s return has provoked a broader European backlash. On 10th March, Latvia’s Ministry of Culture published a joint statement signed by ministers responsible for culture and foreign affairs from 22 countries, urging the organisers of the Venice Biennale to reconsider Russia’s participation. According to the Latvian ministry, the signatories included Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. The letter was addressed to Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and the board of directors, and was shared with Giuli.
In that statement, the 22 governments argued that cultural institutions carry “moral responsibility” as well as artistic significance. They said Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine had caused widespread destruction to Ukrainian cultural life and heritage and warned that giving Moscow a prestigious international cultural platform sent “a deeply troubling signal”. The same statement said the signatory ministers regarded Russia’s participation under current circumstances as unacceptable and called on the Biennale leadership to reverse its decision.
The controversy has also drawn in the European Commission. Reuters reported on 12th March that the Commission had reaffirmed it would terminate or suspend funding for the Venice Biennale if organisers proceeded with plans to allow Russia to reopen its pavilion at this year’s edition. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Brussels condemned the decision and argued that culture in Europe should promote democratic values, open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression, principles which, he said, are not honoured in present-day Russia. Reuters also noted that Russia’s pavilion had been closed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to the exclusion of Russian artists and institutions from major European cultural events.
Associated Press has likewise reported that Giuli opposed Russia’s participation while acknowledging that the Biennale Foundation acts autonomously and is not directly controlled by the government. AP said the minister had moved against Gregoretti for failing to disclose Russia’s intended participation in advance. It also reported that the affair had become part of a wider diplomatic and institutional dispute involving Italy, Ukraine and the European Union.
The Biennale’s own documentation confirms that Russia is currently listed among the participating countries, marking a formal return after its absence from recent editions following the 2022 invasion. That decision has become the focal point of a dispute extending well beyond the contemporary art world, touching on sanctions policy, cultural diplomacy and Europe’s broader response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
At issue for the Italian government is not only the presence of Russia itself, but also whether the ministry was properly informed by its own representative on the Biennale board. Giuli’s public intervention suggests Rome is attempting to distance itself from the decision while also addressing what it describes as a serious lapse in communication and judgement within the institution’s governance structure.
Whether the Biennale leadership will amend the list of participants remains unclear. For now, Russia remains officially included, while opposition from European governments, Brussels and Italy’s own culture ministry continues to grow.
