More than 100 artists participating in the Venice Biennale have accused organisers of ignoring repeated requests to remove them from visitor-voted awards and have threatened legal action over the dispute.
In a statement posted on e-flux on 3 June, artists from the Biennale's In Minor Keys exhibition and various national pavilions said they were disappointed that the Biennale had failed to act on their requests to withdraw them from the Visitors' Lions awards. Signatories include Walid Raad, Laurie Anderson and Pio Abad, among many other artists.
“We view this lack of responsiveness as not only highly disrespectful of the undersigned participants in the Biennale, but also of the audience,” the group wrote, adding that it was “unfair” to ask the public to participate in a process that “has lacked transparency and accountability” and “a waste of their time to ask them to cast votes that cannot be counted”.
The signatories said they would “begin next steps towards legal action”, without elaborating.
The statement reproduces a 20 May letter sent by the group to the Biennale, in which the artists expressed their “shock” at finding their names still listed despite earlier requests to be withdrawn. The letter demanded that their names be removed from “any and all contexts involving the Visitors' Lions awards” and that any votes cast for them be disqualified.
”We request confirmation in writing, as you have done in previous communications, that you have received this letter and that you will immediately accommodate this change to your website,” the artists wrote.
In a statement to The Art Newspaper, the Biennale said it had replied to the artists on 28 May. The response, which the Biennale provided in full, stated that the artists would remain listed in the awards process in order to “guarantee all visitors their freedom of expression”, but that votes cast for signatories requesting withdrawal would not be counted.
"No response to this letter was received so far," the Biennale's statement added.
The dispute stems from the resignation of the Biennale's five-member jury on 30 April following controversy over the participation of Israel and Russia. Before stepping down, the jury had announced that it would not consider artists from countries whose leaders were subject to arrest warrants for crimes against humanity, a position widely seen as applying to Israel and Russia.
Following the jury's resignation, the Biennale announced that, in its absence, two Golden Lions would be decided by public vote. On 9 May, the Biennale's first public day, nearly 70 artists announced that they were withdrawing from consideration. The number of signatories has since risen to 106. Several signatories have been contacted for comment.
