Venice Biennale Artists Decline Consideration for Golden Lions Chosen by Public Vote
A group of 52 artists—just under half of those in curator Koyo Kouoh’s Venice Biennale main exhibition “In Minor Keys”—signed an e-flux statement declining consideration for this year’s top prizes, in solidarity with the resignation of the jury Kouoh selected. The statement, published on the day the Biennale typically holds its Golden Lion ceremony, was also signed by artists representing 16 national pavilions, including France’s Yto Barrada, Lithuania’s Egle Budvytyte, and the Netherlands’s Dries Verhoeven. With no jury in place, the Biennale replaced the Golden Lions with “Visitor Lions” determined by public vote, to be awarded on the closing day, November 22. The controversy followed the five-person jury’s statement that it would not consider countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court—effectively excluding Israel and Russia—before the jury resigned about a week later amid reports that Israel’s pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru threatened legal action alleging discrimination and antisemitism.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Venice Revolts, Art World Loses a Kingmaker