Activists from the Russian protest art collective Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian movement Femen blocked the entrance to the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, protesting against Russia's return to one of the world's main art forums. This was reported by Artem Bidenko, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Publishing Association, on Facebook, according to UNN.
Today in Venice, activists from Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian Femen blocked the entrance to the Russian pavilion at the Biennale. Fifteen women in pink balaclavas, pink, blue, and yellow smoke, slogans "Russia's art is blood" and "Disobey." Police held back the crowd for about thirty minutes. The Russian pavilion, which had been closed for four years, is returning to the world's main art forum
He noted that behind the loud headlines in the global media is a trivial but very recognizable story of how Russian "soft power" works. Primarily regarding the main figure of the scandal.
The commissioner of the Russian pavilion, Anastasia Karneeva, born in 1982. On the surface, she is just an art manager, co-founder of the consulting company Smart Art. If you look closer: her father, Nikolai Volobuev, is a former FSB (and previously KGB) general, currently the deputy director general of the state defense concern "Rostec." Her business partner at Smart Art, which she founded in 2016, is Ekaterina Vinokurova, director of Christie's in Russia and daughter of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Vinokurova's husband, Alexander, is the majority shareholder of "Magnit." In other words, the daughter of a former FSB general, current top manager of arms manufacturers, and a companion of Lavrov's daughter has been placed in a key position for Russian cultural expansion in Europe. This is not even a hint at the kinship between the state and "culture"; it is the hand of the Kremlin in its purest form
According to him, Karneeva was personally appointed to the position of commissioner by the Russian Ministry of Culture back in 2021, notably for an eight-year term.
In other words, this is not an "independent art figure who accidentally ended up at the pavilion." This is a staff unit of the Russian state on the cultural front, which has been waiting four years for the right moment to return
As a reminder
At the 61st festival (May 9 - November 22, 2026), there are plans to open the Russian pavilion. This is Russia's first participation in the exhibition since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
The European Commission has initiated the procedure for suspending or terminating the grant agreement with the Venice Biennale following the decision to allow the Russian pavilion to participate. This concerns a 2 million euro contract that was intended for three years.
The international jury of the 61st Venice Art Biennale resigned on the eve of the event's opening.
The organizers of the Venice Biennale changed the format of the awards ceremony following the resignation of the international jury.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha once again called on the Venice Biennale to reverse its decision and suspend Russia following the jury's resignation and the change in the exhibition format.
The Venice Biennale opens to the press on Wednesday amid resignations, boycotts, and threats of funding cuts — "in an atmosphere of chaos" due to Russia's return for the first time since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine.