From the Biennale of Dissent to the Russian Pavilion, in defiance of the European Union’s ban

In 1977, Carlo Ripa di Meana, then president of the Venice Biennale, organised the famous “Biennale of Dissent” to give a voice to opponents of the Soviet regime, which at the time encompassed the entire Eastern Bloc. 

The initiative, which had been facilitated by the signing, two years earlier, of the Helsinki Accords—which provided for a more open cultural policy between the two blocs—and by the PCI’s shift towards “Eurocommunism”, was strongly opposed not only by those directly affected, namely the USSR, which tried by every means to prevent the event, but also by all those—businesspeople, intellectuals, and political leaders, starting with the Communist Party’s own leadership, who feared that the initiative might jeopardise the ongoing normalisation of “good relations” with the Soviet Union. 

Backed mainly by Bettino Craxi’s Socialist Party, Carlo Ripa pressed ahead, and a huge crowd visited the Biennale from 15 November to 15 December 1977. 

Almost fifty years on, the situation has been turned on its head. Following a decision by its current president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the Russian pavilion, among others, will reopen on Wednesday, 6 May, after being closed since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That year, it was the artists themselves and the curator who cancelled their participation in the Biennale. 

For weeks, this decision has been the subject of endless controversy, which has led, amongst other things, to the resignation of the international jury that was due to award the main prizes, including the prestigious Golden Lion for Best National Contribution. 

The controversy has also engulfed the European Union, which has allocated two million euros in funding to the Biennale (to be disbursed over three years, between 2025 and 2028). 

On 23 April, following criticism of Buttafuoco’s decision by 22 culture ministers from member states, the European Commission announced its decision to withdraw funding on the grounds of a breach of the European Union’s regulations on sanctions against Russia, granting the Biennale Foundation 30 days to explain the reasons behind the decision and persuade the Commission not to withdraw the funds. 

Discussions are still ongoing, and just yesterday the European Commission sent a second letter to the Venice Biennale, citing further “evidence” of a second possible breach of the grant agreement. 

While awaiting the final outcome of the dispute between the Biennale and the European Union—a dispute that could have been avoided, given that the decision’s entirely political, and certainly not merely cultural, nature is obvious to everyone, so much so that Minister Matteo Salvini has announced a prompt visit to the Russian pavilion—it is striking to compare this with what has happened in the past.

 In 1977, the Biennale hosted dissidents from Russia and other countries of the Soviet bloc, caught between the ostracism of the USSR and part of the intelligentsia and the embarrassment of the Italian government. 

In 2026, the Biennale will host the Russian pavilion amid condemnation from the European Union and Russian dissidents, as well as those from other former Soviet states who are set to take to the streets tomorrow, and the embarrassment of the Italian government. 

In short, a world turned on its head—and it is no coincidence that General Vannacci supports the initiative. 

Only the government’s embarrassment remains, mutatis mutandis, always the same.