Ukraine has called for Russia to be barred from participating in the Venice Biennale. A joint statement to this effect was made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha and Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs - Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna. The text of the joint statement was published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, UNN reports.
Details
The statement notes that the Venice Biennale is one of the world's most authoritative art platforms, which cannot become a platform for whitewashing the war crimes that Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian people and our cultural heritage.
Since 2014, Russia has been deliberately destroying cultural heritage sites in Ukraine, violating the norms of international humanitarian law, the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has been waging a systemic war against Ukrainian culture, identity, and historical memory. Since 2022, Russia's war has claimed the lives of 346 artists and 132 Ukrainian and foreign media workers. Russia has destroyed or damaged 1,707 cultural heritage sites and 2,503 cultural infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, of which 558 have been completely destroyed. Russian occupiers have illegally removed at least 35,482 museum items, and more than 2.1 million units are stored in temporarily occupied territories and are under threat of destruction or illegal displacement. Direct damages to Ukraine's cultural sector already exceed $4.2 billion, and total losses to the industry are estimated at more than $31 billion.
The statement also notes that Russia uses culture as a tool of political influence. In particular, Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky called Russian cultural projects abroad a "special operation."
Preventing Russia from participating in international cultural platforms is critically important for preserving their neutrality, avoiding politicization, and protecting the sphere of culture from state war propaganda.
In addition, it is noted that faithfulness to the values of freedom, human dignity, and international law "must be decisive for the global art community, as well as solidarity with the Ukrainian people, whose culture they are trying to destroy."
Recall
In the spring of 2026, Ukraine will host music concerts, festivals, gastronomic and art events. Performances by leading artists, a beer festival, Lutsk Food Fest, and exhibitions in Kyiv are planned.