Anish Kapoor Condemns Inclusion of US in Venice Biennale
12May 6, 2026
Anish Kapoorhas decried US participation in the upcoming Sixty-FirstVenice Biennale, saying it should be excluded owing to its “abhorrentpoliticsof hate and its incessant warmongering.” Speaking withThe Guardian, Kapoor, who represented England in the 1990 Biennale, praised the five-person jury of this year’s iteration for resigning en masse after refusing to consider Israel and Russia for the event’s top prize. The leaders of both those nations have been accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity.
Kapoor’s denouncement of the US comes as the country’s war with Iran, begun by the Trump administration, continues to drag on, affecting economies around the world. The India-born artist is no stranger to pushing against the US presidential regime, having previouslythreatened to sue the Trump administrationafter border patrol agents posed for a photo in front of hisCloud Gatesculpture in Chicago in a scene that Kapoor described as representative of “Fascist America.”
In calling for the US to be excluded from the Biennale, Kapoor joins a cohort of artists and curators participating in the event’s main exhibition, who last month issued an open letter demanding the country, along with Israel and Russia, be barred from taking part in the show. Officials have thus far been resistant to banning any nation, saying that the Biennale “rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art.” In the past few weeks, the EU revealed that it planned to rescind a $2.3 million grant set to be awarded to the Venice Biennale in 2028, and Italian culture minister Alessandro Giuli announced that he would boycot the Biennale’s preview as well as its May 9 public opening ceremony. Both the EU and Giuli connected their decisions to Russia’s participation.