A growing coalition said the Biennale can no longer operate as “business as usual.” Others are weighing solidarity against the rare visibility the event provides. Jo Lawson-Tancred
May 7, 2026
ShareShare This Article An unprecedented 24-hour strike will interrupt the Venice Biennale‘s opening week on Friday, May 8, in protest of Israel’s participation in the global art event. The action brings to a head tensions that have long been brewing between the Biennale’s organizers and its critics over the inclusion of countries charged with war crimes. “What this strike reflects is a deep structural crisis for the Biennale,” said Nika Grabar of the Nonument Group, an artist and research collective that is representing Slovenia in the Arsenale. “We’re not trying to demolish the Biennale, but to save it.” Yet the strike has also exposed divisions among participants, with some artists and pavilion teams weighing solidarity with the protest movement against the rare opportunity the Biennale offers to platform their own political and cultural messages on an international stage.
Published: May 7, 2026 2:08 pm
Source: Artnet News — Read original