Lyubimova noted the courage of young cultural figures of the Russian Federation at the Venice Biennale

Young Russian cultural figures have shown courage by presenting their work against the backdrop of the scandal surrounding Russia's participation in the Venice Biennale. This was announced on June 5 by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Olga Lyubimova in the Izvestia studio as part of SPIEF 2026.

"Our Venetian Pavilion, which has been waiting for young cultural figures, and who actually showed a certain amount of courage <...>, being at this moment with their works of art, and sincerely wanting to share them with the whole world," she said.

According to the head of the Ministry of Culture, the so-called "cancellation culture" has not affected the repertoires of major European opera and ballet theaters. She stated that cultural figures have the right to defend their participation in international projects, and the task of the Ministry of Culture is to create opportunities for this.

Lyubimova also noted that Russian musicians and artists continue to tour abroad. As an example, she cited performances by pianist Denis Matsuev and opera singer Ildar Abdrazakov in Tokyo, where, according to her, Russian performers were met with great respect.

The Tree of Consciousness: Russia returned to the Venice Biennale despite the scandals

The European Commission and provocateurs could not prevent the opening of the national pavilion

Commenting on the controversy surrounding Russia's participation in the Venice Biennale, Senator from the Italian League party Manuel Vescovi noted on May 17 that exclusions and the construction of barriers lead to nothing, and the restoration of dialogue with Russia is a reasonable approach. According to him, the MEPs deprived themselves of the opportunity to communicate with their Russian colleagues, and such a decision did not turn out to be fruitful.

People's Artist of the Russian Federation Salavat Shcherbakov noted on May 9 that attempts to isolate Russian art and scandalous actions against the Russian presence at the Venice Biennale resemble the plot of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Demons". He stressed that Russian culture is a vast and deep world that cannot be isolated.