Artists plan legal action over Venice Biennale visitor vote

More than 100 artists participating in the 2026 Venice Biennale have threatened legal action against the event's organizers, alleging their repeated requests to be withdrawn from a new visitor-voted award have been ignored. The dispute centers on the "Visitors Lions" awards, which were created after the event's original jury resigned en masse just days before the Biennale's public opening in early May.

The artists, including participants in the main exhibition "In Minor Keys" and representatives from dozens of national pavilions, first publicly announced their withdrawal from award consideration on May 9. They stated this action was taken in solidarity with the jury, which resigned following controversy over the participation of Israel and Russia. In a statement published on June 3, the artists said they were shocked to find their names still listed on the digital ballot distributed to visitors on May 14, despite their earlier requests.

The group sent a formal letter to the Biennale Foundation on May 20 demanding the removal of their names from all award-related materials and the disqualification of any votes cast for them. The artists stated that the Biennale's lack of response...