A strike called in protest over the inclusion of Israel at the 2026 Venice Biennale meant several pavilions closed on the last day of the preview, some for a few hours while others – including the standout work from Austria – remained closed all day.
The strike was organised by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (Anga), which at one point said that more than 20 pavilions would shutter in order to support their calls for Israel to be barred from the event because of its war in Gaza.
On Friday, about a dozen pavilions took part, with some partly closing, causing confusion at the event, which is 24 hours away from opening to the general public, after its traditional press preview.
The Belgian, Dutch, Austrian, Japanese, Macedonian and Korean pavilions were closed for the day. The British, Spanish, French, Egyptian, Finnish and Luxembourg entries were either closed and then reopened, or opened and expected to close early – many at about 4pm.
Other artists taking part in the main show (called In Minor Keys) supported the strike by adding references to Palestine to their work. Some, including Tabita Rezaire, hung Palestinian flags, while several of the pavilions had posters outside that read: “Palestine is the future of the world” and: “We stand with Palestine.”
Those who entered the Giardini on Friday morning and headed to the British pavilion were met with closed doors and a sign that read: “Due to the Italian cultural workers’ strike today, it is not possible to open the British pavilion.” The sign said the pavilion would open on Saturday, but once extra staff had been found to work at the venue, it reopened.
The Israeli pavilion was also closed in the morning but that was because of a private event.
This year’s edition of the world’s most prestigious art biennale has been punctuated by protests. On Wednesday, the Russian pavilion at the biennale was forced temporarily to shut its doors after the activist group Pussy Riot staged a protest against the country’s inclusion.
Before the event, the jury, which selects the winner of the Golden Lion prizes, resigned en masse after stating they would not consider entries from countries whose leaders were subject to international arrest warrants, which would have barred them from including Russia and Israel.
The UK government refused to send a minister to open the British pavilion, confirming that it was because Russia was allowed at the event.
There have been disruptive protests at the biennale before.
At the 1968 edition, students occupied pavilions as they called for reforms to the event, with their actions eventually leading to the cancellation of the awards. Two years later there were more protests by the Venice Communist party and the awards were suspended again.