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Belgium’s empty pavilion on Friday Photo: The Art Newspaper<\/p>\n
Last month, meanwhile, the jury responsible for handing out prizes resigned after it had said it would not consider artists from countries whose leaders are under arrest warrants for crimes against humanity\u2014largely understood to be a reference to Russia and Israel. It followed an open letter in March, organised by ANGA, which was signed by more than 200 Venice Biennale participants, demanding the cancellation of the Israeli pavilion.<\/p>\n
Partial closures<\/p>\n
Approaches to the strike have varied. At the Arsenale, Hagar Ophir\u2019s multi-sensory installation Living: Gathering in Venice was plunged into darkness as members of the team shut it down temporarily. Japan\u2019s pavilion remains open, but \u201cthe participatory and audio elements of the exhibition are suspended\u201d, a spokesperson said. The pavilion had been inviting visitors to pick up and carry<\/a> an infant doll through the pavilion and surrounding garden.<\/p>\n Several pavilions have been shuttered, with their artists and curators not on site. One of several campaign posters on the floor of the Lebanese pavilion read: \u201cWe stand with Palestine because we know by now that the destruction of Palestine is the destruction of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n An ANGA spokesperson explains that the intention is not to end the Biennale, but to encourage it to be “engaged again in thinking about itself as a body that could be an ethical light for its sector\u201c.<\/p>\n They add that another aspect of the strike action, which is backed by the Italian trade unions Associazione Difesa Lavoratori (ADL Cobas), Unione Sindacale di Base and Confederazione Unitaria di Base, concerned working conditions for those in Italy\u2019s culture sector. \u201cNot everybody here is allowed to strike because they are on precarious contracts, for example,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cSo, we also wanted to highlight the way that labour is often a really big question of the Biennale.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Art can change worlds\u2018<\/p>\n Armen Agop, who is representing Egypt and closed his pavilion for an hour, takes a philosophical view. The artist, who spoke emotionally about his family\u2019s experience of the Armenian genocide, points to the theme of his exhibition, Silence Pavilion: Between the Tangible and the Intangible, and the importance of \u201clistening to our inner voice, our instinct, our human experience\u201d as a means of finding answers to today\u2019s most important questions. He continues: \u201cPeople ask if art can change worlds. The way I see it: yes, art can.\u201d<\/p>\n