Venice Biennale, Minister Giuli will attend neither the pre-opening nor the opening ceremony

Minister Alessandro Giuli will not be present in Venice during the pre-opening days of the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, nor will he take part in the opening ceremony scheduled for May 9. The decision was officially announced by the Ministry of Culture through a note.
It is a decision that marks a clear stance, which came after weeks of tensions related to the reopening of the Russian pavilion.

The decision sparked critical reactions and ignited public debate, with attacks on the minister’s non-participation.

“The Venice Biennale issue is becoming every passing day a farce that such a prestigious institution does not deserve. What does Alessandro Giuli think he is solving by deserting the opening? What message does he think he is giving by leaving his chair empty? It is very simple: that of a culture minister who instead of defending with a straight back and head held high the autonomy and independence of one of the most important cultural institutions in the world, is hiding,” commented M5s Senate group leader Luca Pirondini.

“We are now faced with inadequate and bungled management of culture and cultural institutions, worthy of Mariuccia kindergarten,” said Democratic Party group leader in the House Culture Committee Irene Manzi.

Yesterday also, M5S deputies Gaetano Amato and Enrico Cappelletti met in Venice with the President of the Venice Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco: “We met with the President of the Venice Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, to reaffirm our support for the independence and autonomy of such a prestigious institution as the Biennale, which is now being challenged by those who would like to subordinate the participation of artists to political logic. Buttafuoco clearly recalled the very nature of the Biennale, comparing it to the United Nations: an open, plural space, which by its very vocation cannot exclude anyone. His role, he stressed, entails the responsibility to defend this autonomy and to ensure that the Biennale remains a place of encounter and not exclusion. It was a very fruitful meeting: we fully share this position and appreciate its consistency. We stand with him in reiterating that no country, neither Russia nor any other, should be prevented from participating. Culture and art cannot be reduced to instruments of geopolitical confrontation: they are, on the contrary, bridges between peoples and opportunities for dialogue that must be protected precisely at times of greatest tension.”

Venice Biennale, Minister Giuli will attend neither the pre-opening nor the opening ceremony

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