Biennale's Visitor-Voted Golden Lions: 7 Reasons Why It Won't Work

On April 30, 2026, the International Jury of the Venice Art Biennale resigned en masse. In response, the Biennale Foundation hastily announced a new 'Visitor Lions' system, where paying visitors would vote for the best artist and best national participation via ticket tracking at the Giardini and Arsenale gates. The awards ceremony was moved from May 9 to November 22, the last opening day. However, the article by Massimiliano Tonelli on Artribune raises seven critical issues: 1) No voting tool has been published yet, and costs are unclear. 2) The November 22 ceremony excludes last-day visitors, risking appeals if votes are close. 3) The Russian Pavilion will only be open during preview days, contradicting the stated principle of equal treatment. 4) Most visitors cannot visit all national pavilions, especially remote ones like Lithuania (2019), Angola (2013), and Armenia (2015), which are free-entry and untracked. 5) Visitors can vote without seeing the works, as there is no mechanism to prevent random voting. 6) The Silver Lion for young artists has been forgotten. 7) Italian visitors (41% of 700,000 tickets in 2024) would unfairly favor the Italian Pavilion, risking embarrassment. The article suggests banning voting for one's own country and notes that unlike Sanremo, the Biennale lacks the infrastructure for such a vote. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called the idea 'genius'.