{"id":13611,"date":"2026-05-07T08:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/13611\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T08:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:08:20","slug":"protesters-in-pink-balaclavas-swarm-russian-pavilion-at-venice-biennale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/13611\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters in pink balaclavas swarm Russian pavilion at Venice Biennale"},"content":{"rendered":"

VENICE, Italy (AP) \u2014 Russian punk group Pussy Riot<\/a> and members of Ukrainian feminist organization FEMEN<\/a> swarmed the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale under a cloud of pink, blue and yellow smoke to protest Russia\u2019s participation at the world\u2019s oldest international art exhibition.<\/p>\n

Their faces covered with pink balaclavas and shouting \u201cBlood is Russia\u2019s art\u201d and \u201cDisobey,\u201d 50 members of feminist groups opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin blockaded the highly controversial pavilion for at least half an hour while Italian police prevented them from getting inside. <\/p>\n

They chanted, played a punk rock song and dispersed without confrontation.<\/p>\n

After years of war, \u201cyou guys just opened the door to them,\u201d said Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, adding that the Biennale had not comprehended the importance of \u201cso-called soft power, things, things that seemingly for some people are not important or not political.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"EDS<\/p>\n

EDS NOTE: NUDITY – Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists stage a protest against Russia\u2019s presence after its absence following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian pavilion, at the 2026 Art Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Writing on banner partially reads in Ukrainian \u201cGod… will pass”(AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<\/p>\n

EDS NOTE: NUDITY – Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists stage a protest against Russia\u2019s presence after its absence following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian pavilion, at the 2026 Art Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Writing on banner partially reads in Ukrainian \u201cGod… will pass”(AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor Russia, it\u2019s clear that it\u2019s part of their military strategy, and that\u2019s the way they try to conquer the West,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Discord marks the Biennale<\/p>\n

This year is the first time Russia has participated in the international art exhibit since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a>. The opening has already cost the Biennale 2 million euros ($2.3 million) in EU funding, and plunged the normally serene week of previews into chaos after the jury resigned in protest of both Russia and Israel\u2019s participating, citing crimes against humanity. <\/p>\n

The Biennale has defended its decision saying that any country with relations with Italy is free to participate in the exhibition, despite opposition from Premier Giorgia Meloni<\/a> \u2018s government. <\/p>\n

\"EDS<\/p>\n

\n EDS NOTE: NUDITY – Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists stage a protest against Russia’s presence after its absence following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian pavilion, at the 2026 Art Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Writing on banner partially reads in Ukrainian “God… will pass”(AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)\n <\/p>\n

EDS NOTE: NUDITY – Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists stage a protest against Russia’s presence after its absence following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian pavilion, at the 2026 Art Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Writing on banner partially reads in Ukrainian “God… will pass”(AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<\/p>\n

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\"Pussy<\/p>\n

\n Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists stage a protest against Russia’s presence after its absence following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian pavilion, at the 2026 Art Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)\n <\/p>\n

Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists stage a protest against Russia’s presence after its absence following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian pavilion, at the 2026 Art Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<\/p>\n

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The protest comes on the second day of VIP previews for art world luminaries and journalists ahead of the Biennale\u2019s opening on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The run-up to Biennale\u2019s 61st edition is the most contested in recent memory, reflecting global turmoil that is spilling over into the exhibition that features 100 national pavilions and 110 artist and artist groups participating in the main curated exhibition titled \u201cIn Minor Keys.\u201d <\/p>\n

Palestinians have also protested Israel\u2019s participation with actions in the Giardini. <\/p>\n

Russia is one of 29 countries with a pavilion in the historic Giardini venue, and one of the oldest, dating from 1914, 19 years after the Biennale was founded in 1895. <\/p>\n

The impact of jury\u2019s resignation<\/p>\n

The five-woman jury\u2019s unprecedented resignation came after it announced that it would not award the prestigious Golden Lion prizes to countries under investigation by the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses, effectively isolating Russia and Israel.<\/p>\n

British artist Anish Kapoor, who has opened an exhibition in his palazzo across Venice, called the jury \u201ccourageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should have included the US of A in that list of countries excluded because of the politics of hate and war that has been going on now for too long,\u2019\u2019 he told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. \u201cWhat these wonderful women say is that culture has a language that speaks to politics that is if you like enrolled, embedded in political discourse, even if it\u2019s invisible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the Russian Pavilion<\/p>\n

For all the controversy it unleashed, Russia\u2019s pavilion, which features a series of musical performances, is scheduled to close before the official opening of the Biennale on May 9. The performances were being recorded to play through the window during the rest of the international exhibition, which closes Nov. 22. <\/p>\n

Until Friday, visitors can fish a piece of discarded clothing from a bin inside the sparsely adorned pavilion, and wander upstairs where an open bar dispenses champagne and Prosecco next to a huge bouquet of flowers resembling a tree, visible through an open window from outside the Giardini walls. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the first preview day, a small group of people danced to house music played by an Argentine DJ, while a pavilion spokesman wearing an animal mask refused to give his full name and said curators were not available for interviews. <\/p>\n

Tolokonnikova said the only Russian art that should be shown is by dissidents who are jailed \u201cfor mostly ridiculous charges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people make art, and I want that art to represent Russia, because they represent the real face of Russia,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Tolokonnikova said that efforts to contact the Biennale organizers to express their concerns had failed, and that to enter the Giardini venue, she had to use an assumed name to get through security.<\/p>\n

In Russia, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Putin\u2019s special envoy for international cultural cooperation, has welcomed Russia\u2019s return to the Biennale, telling Russia\u2019s news outlet RBC last month that \u201cRussian culture can\u2019t be canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s Antiwar Committee, a group of Kremlin critics and opposition activists in exile that formed after Moscow launched its all-out war on Ukraine and which has since been banned in Russia and declared a \u201cterrorist organization,\u201d lauded the EU\u2019s decision to pull funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe participation of Putin\u2019s representatives at one of the world\u2019s foremost cultural forums is neither a gesture of openness nor a celebration of artistic freedom,\u2019\u2019 the group said. \u201cIt is a source of shame for Europe and a gift to the Russian propaganda machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VENICE, Italy (AP) \u2014 Russian punk group Pussy Riot and members of Ukrainian feminist organization FEMEN swarmed the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10036,241,1415,240,325,608,5,352,1815,10035,10034,356,9732,2258,10033,243],"class_list":{"0":"post-13611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-anish-kapoor","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european-union","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-giorgia-meloni","13":"tag-international-news","14":"tag-italy","15":"tag-italy-government","16":"tag-lifestyle","17":"tag-mikhail-shvydkoy","18":"tag-nadya-tolokonnikova","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","21":"tag-russia","22":"tag-vladimir-putin","23":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}