The Venice Bienale 2026
'Today' interview on 6 May
British sculptor said, We resign rather than consider these two countries Russia and Israel for prizes given out at the Bienale. I am saying they should have included the USA because of their horrendous politics of hate and the ceaseless warmongering that gone on now for the last so many months. One of the things that is said in this or the unspoken vision here that these curators articulate is that culture matters. That culture is a forum through which politics is influenced. That is one of the great things, so that it is no longer just entertainment at the Bienale. We are now talking some other serious question.
Some say that Art should be separate from politics.
Well, they are wrong. It seems to me that many things that artists do is to try to articulate other agendas for our inner psychic consideration. Empathy with those destroyed by war. Empathy with the millions living in poverty. The dispossesed and the hundreds of millions refugees in the world. This is part of what these five courageous ladies are articulating.
We have to reflect American culture. We have to reshape culture to reflect Donald Trump's image. An insistence that the artists must reflect American values at the Bienale.
Well there you go. That is utterly disgusting and I will not mince my words. What an utter shame that the artists they chose and the artists themselves - and I do not criticise the artists who tried to set aside from this - that the White House pushes its agenda in this cultural sphere. It is absolutely horrid.
Nils Sapoor.
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