The ICC, located in the Hague, Netherlands, is an intergovernmental body that prosecutes international crimes. In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity \u2014 charges they both deny.<\/p>\n
The year before, the ICC issued a warrant for President Vladimir Putin on charges related to the unlawful deportation of children in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
By excluding countries whose leaders have warrants out for their arrest, the judges could rule out Israel, which has faced widespread exclusion in the arts world, without explicitly doing so.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n The judges tied their decision to the theme of the festival, \u201cIn Minor Keys,\u201d which was chosen by the artistic director Koyo Kuouh, who died last year.<\/p>\n \u201cAs members of the jury, we also have a responsibility towards the historical role of the Biennale<\/a> as a platform that connects art to the urgencies of its time,\u201d their statement said, even as they said they accepted that there is a \u201ccomplex relationship between artist practice and nation-state representation.\u201d<\/p>\n \t They added, \u201cWe stand in solidarity to embrace Koyo Kouoh\u2019s own curatorial statement: \u2018In refusing the spectacle of horror, the time has come to listen to the minor keys, to tune in sotto voce to the whispers, to the lower frequencies; to find the oases, the islands, where the dignity of all living beings is safeguarded.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Other countries whose leaders are facing ICC charges\u00a0include Sudan and Afghanistan, but neither has a presence at the Biennale this year.<\/p>\n During the last Venice Biennale, in 2024,\u00a0the Israeli artist shut down her exhibit\u00a0to call for a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Gaza war. Still, her inclusion drew criticism from across the art world.<\/p>\n This time,\u00a0 Romanian-born Israeli artist and sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru is representing Israel at the Biennale, with a reflective pool installation titled \u201cRose of Nothingness.\u201d<\/p>\n Fainaru has fended off calls for his exclusion by saying that he opposes cultural boycotts and believes that \u201cart thrives on openness.\u201d Responding to the jury\u2019s decision, Fainaru shared with the Haaretz newspaper a letter from president of the International Association of Art Critics in Israel, Michael Levin, that advanced the same ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that art should remain an open opportunity for the expression of ideas and meaningful discourse,\u201d the letter said. \u201cIt is a universal language that provides opportunities for the exchange of ideas and critical thinking through multilayered artistic meanings.\u201d<\/p>\n belu-simion fainaru’s rose of nothingness drips black water in art basel 2019https:\/\/t.co\/jzo4Musgqq<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ER1lwUKuyW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 designboom (@designboom) July 6, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry condemned the decision to exclude the Israeli submission from judging.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe boycott of Israeli artist Belu-Simion Fainaru by the International Jury of the Venice Biennale is a contamination of the art world,\u201d the ministry said in a statement. \u201cThe political jury has transformed the Biennale from an open artistic space of free, boundless ideas into a spectacle of false, anti-Israeli political indoctrination.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel has strenuously denied all accusations of war crimes and genocide, branding the charges as \u201cantisemitic.\u201d<\/a> The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three top leaders from the Palestinian terror group Hamas for organizing the October 7, 2023, attack that started the Gaza war. but dropped them after they were killed by Israel.<\/p>\n Members of the Venice jury include its president Solange Oliveira Farkas, a Brazilian curator; Vietnamese-Australian curator and writer Zoe Butt; Spanish curator and artistic director of Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial Elvira Dyangani Ose; American curator Marta Kuzma; and Italian art historian Giovanna Zapperi.<\/p>\n \u201cThe judges wrote to us that they cannot award prizes because the governments are under investigation by the International Criminal Court,\u201d Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Italian media Thursday. \u201cThis is an independent choice which we respect, just as the Biennale is independent in choosing to have these pavilions.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Though they won\u2019t be permitted to vie for awards, both Israel and Russia will have pavilions during the festival, which opens on May 9.<\/p>\n Russia officially had pavilions during the last two festivals, held during the war that Putin initiated against Ukraine, but did not send artists. This year, it is sending artists \u2014 along with a signal that Russia is unwilling to continue to accept its exclusion from global festivals.<\/p>\n The European Union has also announced it would cut 2 million euros from the Biennale budget if Russia participates and gave the Biennale 30 days to reverse its decision allowing Russia to continue operating its pavilion.<\/p>\n The Biennale opens days after the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a>, another international arts competition being staged in Europe. There, multiple countries have sworn off participation because the European Broadcasting Union rejected calls to bar Israel.<\/p>\n Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPeople stand in front of the closed Israeli national pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art fair in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<\/p>\n
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