Milan, 1 September (LaPresse) – “I would do it all again. It was more than right and proper towards the institution I preside over. In all the formal and official documents, there is not a single comma that goes against the law or regulations.” Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of the Venice Biennale, said this in an interview with Corriere della Sera, reflecting on last spring’s controversy regarding the decision to include a Russian pavilion at the Biennale. “It wasn’t Putin who won, it was art,” he asserts. “The Biennale won – not through me personally, but through the history of an institution that looks out onto the world and which, in its 131 years, even during many conflicts, has always welcomed everyone. It would have been sacrilegious to suspend an ancient precept of our civilisation: the Olympic truce.” “In their correspondence, they raised an issue concerning Europe’s code of ethics, which presupposes respect for the principles of democracy and freedom of expression,” he explains. “Taking the letter at face value, I note that, apart from the European Union, around 87 per cent of the countries present at the Art Biennale would not have met the criteria. And that I would have had to do without the fundamental contribution of an absolute monarchy, albeit an elective one,” he says, referring to the Vatican. “The EU’s contradiction lies in denying freedom of expression on the grounds of a specific nationality. This is unheard of in light of the principles enshrined in all charters of rights. As for the European Commission, I note that the Italian Commissioner has not uttered a single word in defence of a cultural institution in our country. This anti-Italian stance certainly does not make him a staunch defender of the Republic,” he emphasises.
Venice Biennale, Buttafuoco: “I would do it all over again with the Russian pavilion”
Milan, 1 September (LaPresse) – “I would do it all again. It was more than right and proper towards the institution I preside over. In all the formal and official documents, there is not a single comma that goes against the law or regulations.” Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of the Venice Biennale, said this in an interview with Corriere della Sera, reflecting on last spring’s controversy regarding the decision to include a Russian pavilion at the Biennale. “It wasn’t Putin who won, it was art,” he asserts. “The Biennale won – not through me personally, but through the history of an institution that looks out onto the world and which, in its 131 years, even during many conflicts, has always welcomed everyone. It would have been sacrilegious to suspend an ancient precept of our civilisation: the Olympic truce.” “In their correspondence, they raised an issue concerning Europe’s code of ethics, which presupposes respect for the principles of democracy and freedom of expression,” he explains. “Taking the letter at face value, I note that, apart from the European Union, around 87 per cent of the countries present at the Art Biennale would not have met the criteria. And that I would have had to do without the fundamental contribution of an absolute monarchy, albeit an elective one,” he says, referring to the Vatican. “The EU’s contradiction lies in denying freedom of expression on the grounds of a specific nationality. This is unheard of in light of the principles enshrined in all charters of rights. As for the European Commission, I note that the Italian Commissioner has not uttered a single word in defence of a cultural institution in our country. This anti-Italian stance certainly does not make him a staunch defender of the Republic,” he emphasises.