Twenty European countries demand Russia Pavilion closure at Venice Biennale

Twenty European countries have sent an official letter to the Venice Biennale Foundation demanding the closure of the Russian national pavilion. Among the signatories are Ukraine, the Baltic states, France, and Spain. The author, Danilo Eccher, criticizes this as propaganda, noting historical contradictions: France allowed Soviet and Nazi pavilions at the 1937 Paris International Exposition, and Spain hosted Picasso's "Guernica" there. Eccher argues that culture and art should enjoy absolute freedom, citing recent censorship of artists and scholars. He distinguishes between condemning the Israeli government as terrorist while supporting Israeli artists, and similarly opposing Trump while valuing the US pavilion. The piece laments the silence of cultural institutions that tolerated expulsions of conductors, singers, scholars, and artists in recent years.