Venice Biennale Opens Amid Absences and Protests

The Venice Biennale opened on Saturday with notable absences: Iran withdrew, and the US pavilion was essentially empty, an unintentional comment on the Trump administration's call for art that 'promotes American values.' Pussy Riot stormed the Russian pavilion, forcing a brief closure. Meanwhile, institutions face funding cuts: a French parliamentary report proposes slashing public broadcasting by 25% and entertainment broadcast budgets by 75%. San Diego County launched a $2.75M arts grant program as the city cuts its own arts funding. Programmatic ads are quietly entering public radio. A study reported by Wired found that AI assistance makes problem-solvers worse when the assistance is removed. In San Francisco, Lawrence Halprin's Vaillancourt Fountain caught fire during demolition.