Demonstrators attend a protest at Venice Biennale's International Art Exhibition, on May 7.Manuel Silvestri/Reuters
Two of the seven Canadian artists showing at the Venice Biennale have added their names to an open letter asking not to be included in consideration for a people’s choice award.
When the Biennale’s jury resigned to protest Russia and Israel’s participation in the international art event, the festival’s administration replaced its prestigious Golden and Silver lions with awards voted on by visitors. But in a letter dated May 20, more than 100 artists requested their names be removed from consideration for this new venture.
On Wednesday, the group escalated the dispute, publishing the letter online and threatening legal action because, so far, the Biennale has not taken the names off the ballot.
Bonnie Devine.Erinn Brush/Supplied
“The decision to put a viewers’ choice ballot system in place following the official jury’s resignation appears to be an attempt to deflect attention from the grave issue the jury articulated,” Toronto artist Bonnie Devine said in an e-mail. “I do not wish to participate in this apparent cover up and erasure of the jury’s bold act of dissent.”
Before the Biennale opened in May, the jury announced it would not consider countries that had been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court, an apparent reference to the participation of Israel and Russia, both of which have national pavilions on the Biennale’s historic grounds in the Giardini.
The jury announced its resignation on the same day the Biennale introduced the people’s choice concept for the juried awards, which recognize the best national pavilion and the best artist in the main exhibition.
In response to a request for comment, the Biennale provided a copy of its May 28 e-mail to the artists stating they would not be considered for prizes but their names would not be removed from the ballot, in order to preserve visitors “freedom of expression.”
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So far 70 individual artists from the main exhibition, plus groups representing 39 national pavilions, have asked to have their names removed from consideration. There are 110 individual artists and groups in the main exhibition this year, and 96 national pavilions.
The other Canadian artist whose name appears on the list, which was published on the visual arts community website e-flux, is Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both Devine and Hatanaka are included in the main exhibition, entitled In Minor Keys, as are Montreal artist Manuel Mathieu and the duo of Calgary artist Marigold Santos and Toronto artist Rajni Perera.
The other two Canadians whose names do not appear on the list are Abbas Akhavan, featured at the Canada Pavilion, and Lotus L. Kang, featured in the pavilion hosted by corporate sponsor Bulgari.
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After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 it was excluded from that year’s Biennale; in 2024 it lent its pavilion to Bolivia. This year, it programmed its pavilion, but the building was allowed to open only during the preview week that attracts critics and the trade.
In 2024, Israeli artist Ruth Patir declined to open her exhibition until there was a ceasefire in Gaza and Hamas returned the Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023. This year, with the main Israeli pavilion in the Giardini undergoing renovations, artist Belu-Simion Fainaru mounted a show in a temporary Israeli pavilion at the Biennale’s secondary site, the Arsenale. Protestors organized demonstrations outside both pavilions during the preview week.