Russia and Israel have been barred from winning the Venice Biennale’s top prizes after the exhibition’s jury moved to exclude countries whose leaders have been indicted by the International Criminal Court.
In a statement released Thursday, the jury said it decided to rule out awarding the Biennale’s Golden and Silver Lions, handed out at the exhibition’s closing in September, to national pavilions belonging to countries whose heads of state are facing ICC charges.
The unprecedented decision directly affects Russia and Israel. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been under an ICC arrest warrant since 2023 over war crimes following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was charged in 2024 with war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza conflict.