VENICE — The five-member international jury of the Venice Biennale resigned days before the 61st international art exhibition was due to begin on May 9, organisers announced in a brief statement late Thursday. The Italian culture ministry sent inspectors to Venice to gather information about the decision to allow Russia to have a pavilion at the event.

The jury was led by Solange Farkas and included Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma and Giovanna Zapperi. The panel had been chosen by Koyo Kouoh, the Swiss-Cameroonian curator who was appointed to lead the 2026 edition of the biennale before her death last year. The jury selects the winners of the golden and silver lion awards from among the 110 artists participating in the exhibition, and had said it would not give awards to artists from countries whose leaders were facing charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

The award ceremony, previously scheduled for May 9, will take place on Sunday, November 22. The biennale will hand out two awards, one of which could go to any one of the national participations included in the 61st exhibition as per the official list, following the principle of inclusion and equal treatment.

The exhibition's organisers allowed Russia to reopen its pavilion at the event. Russia was absent from the 2022 and 2024 editions of the biennale. After Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the biennale condemned the aggression and banned access to the 2022 edition for anyone linked to the Kremlin, but never formally barred Russia from participating in the exhibition.

Organisers said: "This is consistent with the founding spirit of La Biennale, based on openness, dialogue, and the rejection of any form of closure or censorship. La Biennale seeks to be, and must remain, a place of truce in the name of art, culture, and artistic freedom." In a separate statement, organisers also said: "The biennale is an open institution that rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of art."

Italian culture minister Alessandro Giuli said "The decision had been made entirely independently by the Biennale Foundation, despite the Italian government's opposition." Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and leader of the League, publicly welcomed Russia's return to the biennale.

The European Commission wrote to the Biennale Foundation saying it planned to terminate or suspend its €2m grant for the exhibition because of Russia's involvement. The biennale has 30 days to respond to the letter.