Damien Melotte 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇪🇪

To the First Nations people witnessing their warm & gracious cultural practices attacked by neo-nazis and weaponised for political gain by Dutton: This should not be happening. We are with you. This always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

With all the wars and crises going on in the world, let's discuss arts. Russia is back at the Venice Biennale. This is not just art - it’s a cultural-information operation: an effort to make the presence of an aggressor state appear "normal" again. In March 2022, the Biennale announced it would not accept official delegations, institutions, or individuals linked to the Russian government, while providing space for those opposing the regime. Now, Russia is listed again among the national participants of Biennale Arte 2026 with the project The Tree is Rooted in the Sky, with Anastasiia Karneeva as commissioner. National Participation is not "free artistic exchange." It is a state pavilion - an official channel representing a government waging an aggressive war. To understand what is really happening, look beyond rhetoric to the operational structure: who runs the pavilion, who controls the funding, who provides the infrastructure - and how all this connects to the Russian state apparatus. ▪️ Fathers and daughters: war and culture Anastasiia Karneeva is not a "neutral curator." She is a commissioner with a long-term mandate - an institutional role, not a temporary figure. Crucially, she is the daughter of Nikolai Volobuev, a graduate of the KGB Higher School, who served in the KGB/FSB from 1975-2004, was Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia in 2004-2006, Director of "Special Assignments" at Rosoboronexport in 2006-2007, and since 2007, Deputy General Director of the state corporation Rostec. In other words, the "culture" here rests on a very specific paternal background: intelligence ➡️ defense exports ➡️ state defense corporation. This is the war circuit. The Russian pavilion operator is Smart Art, founded by Anastasiia Karneeva and Ekaterina Vinokurova, handling exhibition projects and production. Importantly, Smart Art publicly functions as the strategic operator of the pavilion - long-term management, including financing and infrastructure. They are not merely assistants; they decide who works, what is funded, which European companies receive payments, and how everything is organized legally and operationally. Ekaterina Vinokurova is the daughter of Sergey Lavrov. Behind the "cultural" façade - the friendly faces of the daughters - stand parents embedded in the state machine: intelligence, defense, diplomacy. The question is simple: do you still believe this is a coincidence? This is typical and convenient for the Russian system: dynastic soft power. The regime enters Europe "through the children" - where the West is more willing to open doors because "it’s culture." The Russian pavilion, in this logic, is not art. It is a façade attached to the state core. ▪️ The Italian context: how the cover works Two mechanisms are at play. 1. Technical: The project lists include Europeans, notably Italians, acting as a shield: "It’s international, locals are involved." This hides the aggressor state behind "polyphony" - criticism of the state pavilion is replaced by accusations of "censoring culture." 2. Institutional: The Biennale operates in a political context with pre-war relationships and a local habit of thinking "avoid conflict with Russia." In this gray-zone war, this matters less as proof of bribery and more as atmosphere: where people are used to saying "let’s avoid politics," it is much easier to install the state presence of an aggressor under the guise of "technical" or "cultural" necessity. Here it is important to name the specific individuals who are part of the Biennale’s leadership structure. The official Biennale leadership (2024-2028) is as follows: • Pietrangelo Buttafuoco: In a 2018 column, Putin is framed as "a true right-wing leader," and Russia positively-heroically. This is not a minor biographical note; it is a worldview: Russia is "unfairly demonized," the West is "hysterical," Putin is "a statesman." • Luigi Brugnaro: Public records show that in 2019 he received Olga Golodets (Russian Deputy PM) and Mikhail Piotrovsky (Hermitage director and curator of the Russian Biennale pavilion). Pre-war meetings with Russian officials and industrial delegations also exist (e.g., the Superjet aviation project). • Luca Zaia: Public statements document concerns about Veneto’s losses from sanctions, the need for "relations over sanctions," and contacts/missions to Moscow in the context of "dialogue despite sanctions." Additionally, there is a well-known case from Veneto’s regional politics, where ideas such as "returning Crimea to Russia" and opposition to sanctions were expressed at the regional council level (widely covered by Italian media) ▪️ Why this is cultural-information warfare The goal is not the exhibition itself. The goal is normalization. Russia does not need Europe to love it. Russia needs Europe to get used to: - a state pavilion as a "normal detail"; - the formula "culture over politics"; - the idea that discussing the war is "indecent" in cultural conversation. This is the essence of the gray zone: not to convince, but to blur. Not to win arguments, but to win fatigue. The key point is not "whether the project is good." The key point is that the pavilion functions as a tool of the aggressor state: through operators, family ties, money infrastructure, international names as cover, and creeping normalization. Culture is being used as a channel of war.