Last week, Swiss artist Reto Pulfer, Iranian artist Maryam Hoseini and German artist Anna Witt requested that their works be removed from the Venice nonprofit Scuola Piccola Zattere removed from the first exhibition. The exhibition, titled “Fraction of a Year: Primo Movimento,” opens on November 22 and is expected to run until March 30, 2025. There are still three artists in the exhibition: Agnieska Mastalerz from Poland and Italians Ludovica Carbotta and Tomaso De Luca.
Scuola Piccola Zattere was founded in November by Victoria Mikhelson, the daughter of Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson, who serves as President of Russia Vladimir Putin A close ally of Vladimir Putin and a vocal supporter of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Leonid Mikhelson was sanctioned by the British government in 2022, and while he was not sanctioned by the United States, several companies his business supplied were. He is the founder and chairman of Russian gas producer Novatek, which supplies gas to Russia’s Sverdlov plant. The factory, which was sanctioned by the United States in 2023, produces explosives and ammunition used by Russian forces in Ukraine. He is also a major shareholder in LPG giant SIBUR. The company has been forced to reduce LPG exports due to tanker shortages caused by U.S. sanctions. According to Russian independent media company SIBUR provides materials for Russian military systems deployed in Ukraine project.
Leonid Mikhelson transferred control of two of his companies – Nova, which builds gas pipelines, and logistics company Optima – to the state of Victoria in 2018, Russian newspapers reported Kommersant. Optima also owns the GES-2 House of Culture, a 585,000-square-foot contemporary art museum in the Russian capital built by the Moscow-based arts nonprofit VAC Foundation. Leonid Mikhelson founded VAC in 2009.
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victoria told art news In an email, Scuola Piccola Zattere was funded entirely from “her own personal resources.” However, the non-profit organization occupies the building formerly occupied by the Venice VAC Foundation. Victoria previously served as its director of strategic development and research. VA-C’s Venice operations closed in May 2022 and its Italian director Francesco Manacorda resigned in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Manakoda told Russian media: “Unfortunately, the current events have significantly changed labor and personal conditions, which is why I have come to the conclusion that I will not be able to continue with the dedication that I can be proud of. Keep working.” TASS News agency of the time. “My decision was made with great difficulty and remorse.”
Artists Reto Pulfer, Maryam Hoseini and Anna Witt withdraw from Scuola show art news Ask them if they are aware of the agency’s connection to Leonid Mikhelerson. They have since declined to comment. The three artists remaining in the exhibition – Mastalez, Cabota and DeLuca – chose not to respond to requests for comment.
in a statement art newsScuola Piccola Zattere said the artists decided to withdraw “following the publication of articles questioning the funding of the institution”.
“Despite statements regarding the legality of the fund, which have been monitored by the Italian authorities, and communication with artists regarding the governance of the institution that has not changed since working with them, the media attention has led to artists opting out,” the the agency said in an emailed statement. “We respect their decision, although we regret that we cannot continue to collaborate on a project based on dialogue, exchange and mutual education, tools dedicated to confronting the logic that has led to the dramatic conditions of our time. In confirming our response to the We firmly believe that this is a legitimate, valid and necessary initiative at this moment in history.
When asked if she opposed war in Ukraine, Victoria Mickelson told art news“Scuola Piccola Zattere is a project that fully embodies my values. I believe that an important tool for us to deal with increasing violence is dialogue and the establishment of cultural contact zones. This is why I believe [a] As a concept and a strategy, cultural boycott is fundamentally wrong because it creates greater distance, incomprehension, and suspicion, all of which contribute to conflict. Creating spaces for safe communication, discussion and the free expression of ideas is humane and should always be encouraged, not suppressed. Understanding the difficulties that may be encountered, we work hard with the team to build Scuola Piccola Zattere into a long-term platform for cultural practitioners. “
About the Scuola Piccola Zattere being funded from her “personal resources”, Victoria added, “These are assets that I have had since before the conflict broke out in 2022. I want to invest my resources and work in the field of art that was used ten years ago , the city welcomed me and still occupies an important place on the cultural map.”
Scuola Piccola Zattere said Italian financial institution Guardia di Finanza had reviewed and approved the agency’s accounts.
Italian curator Irene Calderoni, artistic director of Scuola Piccola Zattere, is also the curator of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin. In 2010, Calderoni and compatriot Francesco Bonami curated the exhibition “Modernikon: Contemporary Art from Russia” in collaboration with the VAC Foundation. Several Russian artists featured in “Modern Nikon” fled Russia after being targeted for speaking out against the conflict in Ukraine.
“‘Modern Nikon’, which happened 15 years ago, put me in contact with many Russian artists with whom we had concrete discussions about the relationship between artistic practice, political exigencies, and free space,” she told me. art news in an email. “The problems identified then became more acute with the outbreak of the war, but they were already there: what has changed since then is that the spaces for communication with the outside world that were open at the time have been closed again. I hope we can resume this process , the space for discussion will expand rather than shrink.”
In response to a question about working with Victoria Mickelson during the war, Calderoni said she “recognized and respected [Victoria’s] right to self-determination” and agreed with the EU’s “unequivocal condemnation” of the war.
Calderoni added: “I hope that the conflict will be resolved peacefully through diplomacy and dialogue.”
Manacorda, former director of the VA-C Venice branch and director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Castello di Rivoli in Turin, tells us art news The situation surrounding Scuola Piccola Zattere shall be based on the “Terms of Participation [that] Be open and honest. “
“I see that Victoria has made it clear that she and the project are against all forms of violence and that her intention is to create a platform for dialogue in Venice,” he said in a message on WhatsApp. “These are good directions, and transparency about[her own]funding sources is the only way to allow people to participate or not participate in such proposals with full awareness. Now I think it’s about personal choice, not Calling for a massive boycott.”
So far, there haven’t been any strong calls to boycott Scuola Piccola Zattere.
