The jury of Venice Biennale’s International Art Exhibition has resigned just days after it announced it would exclude national pavilions representing territories where the leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court from consideration for the prizes.

The exclusion was seen as specifically targeting the pavilions of Israel and Russia, the leaders of which, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have been issued with arrest warrants by the ICC for alleged war crimes.  

The Biennale – which also oversees the Venice Film Festival in September – announced the jury’s resignation in a short statement on Thursday giving no details or comment on their decision.

The resignation comes amid a wider row over the Venice Biennale’s decision to allow Russia to host a pavilion. It is among 100 national pavilions and 31 collateral events participating in the 61st edition.

The European Union’s head of foreign policy Kaja Kallas announced last week that it would be cutting a €2M ($2.3M) grant to the Venice Biennale for violating EU sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent ongoing war.

“While Russia bombs museums, destroys churches and seeks to erase Ukrainian culture, it should not be allowed to exhibit its own,” she said in a statement. Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli also indicated that he would not attend the opening ceremony on May 9 in protest at Russian’s presence.

Exiled Russian Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova announced that the feminist protest art collective would be travelling to Venice to protest the return of Russia.

“If art is meant to represent a country at the Venice Biennale — something like the Olympics of the art world — then artists imprisoned for their anti-war, pro-Ukraine stance are the real face of modern Russia,” she wrote in a social media post. “Russia is not bringing neutral artists — these artists are affiliated with the government’s propaganda efforts.”

She suggested that the collective should be in charge of the pavilion representing Russia at the 2028 edition.

“Pussy Riot does not believe in simply boycotting without offering solutions — our plan is for imprisoned artists (current and former) to represent Russia at the Venice Biennale 2028. We offer our curatorial services. All we need is access to Russia’s pavilion.”

Biennale Foundation President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco has defended his decision to allow Russia to participate. The country has had a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale since 1914. It withdrew from the 2022 edition in the wake of the Ukraine War and was absent in 2024.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed surprise at the resignation in a scheduled cabinet press conference just minutes after the news broke on Thursday, saying she had yet to be briefed.

“I’m a little lost on the dynamics of this affair, so I’ll stick to my initial position: the government declared it didn’t agree with the decision regarding the Russian pavilion, but the Biennale is an autonomous body, and Buttafuoco is a very capable person. I wouldn’t have made this decision in his place,” she said.

Presided over by  Solange Oliveira Farkas, founder and artistic director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil, and also including curators  Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose and Marta Kuzma as well as art historian Giovanna Zapperi, the jury was to have announced its prizes in a ceremony on May 9, marking the opening of the exhibition to the general public.

Prizes include Golden Lion for best National Participation, Golden Lion for best participant in the International Exhibition In Minor Keys and Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition In Minor Keys.

Australia won the main national prize in the 2024 edition.