Culture News
Venice Biennale's first week: no Golden Lion, shut pavilions and 10,000 visitors on day one
The 61st Venice Biennale opened to the public on Saturday, May 9, without a formal opening ceremony and without a Golden Lion, the Australian Associated Press reported in a story carried by Bega District News. The report said the prize had never gone unawarded since the event began in 1895; winners will instead be decided by a public vote when the show closes on November 22.
The day before, about 2,000 people protested against Israel's inclusion, citing conditions in Gaza, and police pushed back the crowd with batons and shields. Italian media reported that 20 national pavilions stayed closed because staff refused to work in protest. Activists also protested against Russia's presence over the war in Ukraine.
The Associated Press described the preview week as chaotic: Ukrainian artists stood beside an origami deer statue brought by truck from the eastern front, while participants in the Russian pavilion danced to house music nearby. AP later reported that dozens of artists were threatening legal action unless their names were removed from the visitor ballot.
The show opened as its “most chaotic and contested edition in recent memory” — via AP
Yet the crowds came. ArtDependence Magazine reported about 10,000 visitors on the first public day, counted by 6pm at the Giardini and Arsenale, roughly 10% more than the 2024 opening day. The May 5–8 preview drew 27,935 people, up 4%, including 3,733 journalists.
How each outlet framed it
- Associated Press — the politics in the pavilions, from Ukraine's deer to the ballot row.
- Bega District News — a historic first: no Golden Lion, protests and closed pavilions.
- ArtDependence Magazine — attendance: the controversy did not keep visitors away.
What we don't know yet: Whether the artists' legal threat will change the visitor ballot before the November vote.