Poland’s culture ministry said on Tuesday that Minister Marta Cienkowska had signed the joint protest against Russia’s participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition in Venice.
On X, Cienkowska wrote that “an artist servile toward a criminal becomes complicit in his crimes,” and that “culture silent in the face of people being murdered becomes a culture of death and terror.”
“Especially we, Poles, have a duty to protest against any presence of representatives of a bandit state in places whose stature could legitimize their criminal activity,” she added.
The protest, initiated by Latvia, was also signed by culture and foreign ministers from 21 other countries, including France, Germany, Sweden and Ukraine. The letter said cultural institutions must be not only guardians of art’s importance, but also of moral responsibility.
“Culture was one of the first and main targets of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine,” Poland’s culture ministry wrote on its website. “Culture does not function on the margins of international politics - it is its axis and cause, and therefore cannot remain indifferent.”
The letter was addressed to Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and the Biennale board, and copied to Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli.
Also on Tuesday, the European Commission condemned the Biennale Foundation’s decision to allow Russia to take part and said it could suspend or terminate current EU funding if the decision was carried out.
“Culture promotes and protects democratic values, supports open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression and should never be used as a propaganda platform,” Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen and Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef said in a statement.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna had urged organizers on Sunday to reverse the decision and maintain the line taken in 2022 and 2024, when Russia was absent after its invasion of Ukraine.
They said Russia’s full-scale war had killed 346 artists and 132 Ukrainian and foreign media workers, while at least 35,482 museum exhibits had been illegally removed from Ukraine and more than 2.1 million artworks remained in Russian-occupied territories at risk of destruction or looting.
Italy’s culture ministry said the decision to allow Russia and Iran to participate had been taken autonomously by the Biennale Foundation despite the Italian government’s opposition.
The 61st International Art Exhibition in Venice is scheduled to run from May 9 to Nov. 22.
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Source: PAP