'Enjoy the show. Ignore the war': Venice Biennale faces backlash after including Russia

As the fuss has grown, the event's president has resisted requests for interviews. A right-wing former journalist, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, has spoken admiringly in the past of Vladimir Putin.Today, he broke his near silence on the Biennale to accuse critics of creating a "laboratory of intolerance" and condemn what he styled as censorship and exclusion in calls for Russia and Israel to be banned."If the Biennale began to select not works but affiliations, not visions but passports, it would cease to be what it has always been: the place where the world meets," Buttafuoco announced, then left the press conference before anyone could ask questions.His argument ignores the point made by posters pasted all over Venice this week. They advertise imaginary events at an "Invisible Biennale" featuring Ukrainian artists and authors like Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was shot when Russian troops occupied his village.The posters are stamped: "Cancelled. Because the author was killed by Russia."Posters have been placed all over Venice advertising imaginary events featuring Ukrainian artists and authors who have been killed in the warThe canal-side gardens of the Biennale are home to dozens of stylish national pavilions that operate as showcases for their owners. For all countries, but especially for autocracies like Russia, the bi-annual exhibition is a prime chance to exert some soft power.In 2022, the curators at the Russian pavilion pulled out in protest at the invasion of Ukraine. Two years later, the building was loaned to Bolivia. But this time a Russian team has filled the space with an upside-down tree and experimental sound performances.