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The international jury of the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale has resigned just days before the major contemporary art event is set to open, following a dispute over the participation of countries whose leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Venice Biennale said Thursday that it had received the resignations of jury president Solange Farkas and jury members Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma and Giovanna Zapperi.
The resignations came after the jury issued a joint statement earlier this week saying it would not consider entries from countries “whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity by the ICC.”
The decision would have left Israel and Russia out of competition for the exhibition’s Golden Lion and Silver Lion prizes.
Russia’s participation had already drawn criticism in the weeks leading up to the exhibition. Since March 2023, the ICC has had an arrest warrant out for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes, allegations Moscow has denied.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also been wanted by the ICC since 2024 over accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Israel’s war in Gaza.
The controversy also reached the European Commission, which had signaled plans to suspend or terminate a €2 million ($2.3 million) grant to the biennale over its handling of Russia’s participation.
The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s leading contemporary art exhibitions, bringing together national pavilions from dozens of countries in Venice, Italy.
Despite jury resignations, the exhibition is scheduled to run from May 9 to Nov. 22.
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