World Art Show's Jury Resigns Before Opening

One of the art world's most prestigious competitions is without a prize jury less than two weeks from opening. As ANSA reports, global politics is the culprit in the predicament of the upcoming Venice Biennale in Italy. The five-member international jury resigned amid controversy over its decision to bar artists from Israel and Russia from receiving awards. The jury technically didn't name those two countries, but it excluded artists from countries under investigation by the International Criminal Court, which amounted to the same thing, notes the New York Times.

Israel's Foreign Ministry criticized the jury's original move, saying it turned the Biennale into "a spectacle of false, anti-Israeli political indoctrination," while Israel's representative this year, sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, said he had consulted lawyers and welcomed the resignations. The exhibition opens May 9. It was not immediately clear if the resignations will lead to Israeli and Russian artists being allowed to compete.