Dark clouds, protests and resignations dampen start of 61st Venice Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale vernissage began on Tuesday under grey clouds and rain showers, as political tension, parties and protest dominated proceedings at one of the art world’s biggest events.

Lubaina Himid, the British entrant, who has spent a career creating work that picks at her country’s colonial past, took over the UK’s pavilion with her large-scale paintings and sound collage that recalls a “perfect British summer’s day”.

Lubaina Himid’s British pavilion exhibition. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Just down the hill from the British pavilion, as rain fell during an inclement Venetian spring day, techno music pumped out of the Russian pavilion, which had large crates of prosecco stacked outside as drinks flowed within.

The celebration was understandable for a country that, despite mounting calls for it to be barred, had managed to pull off an appearance at the most high-profile art event in Europe, after not showing in the past two editions because of outcry over its war in Ukraine.

Before the event, the jury – which selects the winner of the Golden Lion prizes – resigned en masse after stating they would not consider entries from countries whose leaders were subject to international arrest warrants (a move that would bar them from including Russia and Israel).

A DJ performs inside the Russia pavilion. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

On Monday, the Italian ministry of culture confirmed that the Russian pavilion would not be open to the public when the event opens fully on 9 May. However, the work, which comprises flower sculptures, will be visible through the windows.

Tetyana Berezhna, a Ukrainian culture minister, told the Guardian that not opening the Russian pavilion to the public was a “meaningful step” but that the country’s “symbolic presence” was still powerful.

“Cultural platforms shape global perception,” she said. “They define what is considered acceptable and whose voices are amplified. In this context, every form of representation matters.”

The Ukraine pavilion's Origama Deer being installed near the entrance to the giardini. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

There were other visible geopolitical vibrations across the event. The Iranian entry pulled out without giving a reason, as a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be fracturing.

At midday in the giardini – the Napoleon-era garden where the national pavilions sit and the art world descends every two years – there was a protest by artists who are part of the In Minor Keys show. Around 60 artists took part in Solidarity Drone Chorus, humming a song and walking slowly in procession through the giardini to protest against Israel’s participation.

More than 200 artists, including Lubaina Himid and Alfredo Jaar, signed an open letter demanding the cancellation of the Israeli pavilion, which opened on Tuesday.

The Israeli pavilion. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

This year’s event is without its curator, Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian-Swiss arts leader who died in May 2025. The curatorial team she installed – made up of Marie Hélène Pereira, Rasha Salti, Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Rory Tsapayi and Siddhartha Mitter – have delivered the event, following her plans.

There are several works that either depict or reference her, including a Derrick Adams mural opposite the entrance to the Arsenale, the other main site of the event.

Koyo Kouoh at a summit in France in 2021. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/AP

The Derrick Adams mural. Photograph: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

When asked about the jury’s decision to resign because of the inclusion of Israel and Russia, Mitter said the team “100% respect the jury” but would not be drawn on whether they thought it was right or wrong.

“It’s not an exhibition that is a commentary on world affairs or geopolitics,” said Salti, who has family based in Beirut. “But I think our principles, where we come from, what the world conflicts have done to our consciousness, is tangible and is manifested in the exhibition.”

“Of course there is an upping of the ante because rightwing politics has gained a lot of currency,” she added. “Perhaps that has made everybody hyper-sensitive.”

On the first day of the preview, the Austrian pavilion was the big draw, with large crowds gathering to watch the choreographer Florentina Holzinger in her Seaworld Venice performance. For five-minute spells, once an hour, she hung from inside a bell suspended from a crane above the pavilion and rocked from side to side, using her body to ring it.

Inside, there were several chambers filled with water. One included a jet ski being driven at increasing speed, while outside an artist was submerged in a water tank apparently filled with purified urine. Another tank featured an explosive sewage spill.

Nextdoor to the Austrian pavilion was the other most popular part of the biennale so far: a seagull that had created a nest on the ground. Staff had placed a wooden fence around the bird, which some people mistook for an artwork in its own right.

The seagull nesting outside Poland’s pavilion. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian