This Week’s Highlights:
The Venice Biennale opened Saturday in something close to disarray. The jury resigned en masse over Israel’s and Russia’s eligibility (Hyperallergic). Iran withdrew days before opening (Artforum). The US pavilion sits empty — the administration’s call for proposals required work that “reflect and promote American values,” and got the silence it asked for (ARTnews). Pussy Riot stormed the Russian pavilion in pink balaclavas (The Guardian). Anish Kapoor said the US should be banned outright (The Guardian). And the Golden Lion itself was scrapped this year for a people’s choice vote (Hyperallergic).
Several pieces of the Biennale’s basic infrastructure failed at once — the jury, the central prize, multiple national pavilions. That’s not a difficult year. It’s a 130-year-old institution built to recognize excellence by adjudicating contemporary art across nations meeting a moment that won’t agree on the basic terms.
Three other stories (among others) worth tracking this week. A federal judge ruled DOGE’s cancellation of $100 million in NEH grants unconstitutional (AP) — after the agency had already been hollowed out, with 97% of its grants terminated and 22 of 26 advisory board members fired (Chronicle of Higher Education). Five publishers and Scott Turow sued Meta and Zuckerberg personally over Llama’s training on pirated books (AP). And the Academy of Motion Pictures ruled AI-generated actors and scripts ineligible for the Oscars (TechCrunch). Duh! Was that even ever really a possibility?
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
