As Russian troops and tank convoys sweep into Ukraine from three sides, the future of its cultural contribution has also been cast in doubt after the announcement that the embattled country has, at least for now, placed a hold on all activities related to its pavilion from the 59th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

In a press statement released to the group’s Twitter account on Thursday, the team representing their country’s Pavilion planned for this April’s Biennale has announced the suspension of all activities related to the installation and exhibition until such time as the crisis within Ukraine’s borders can be resolved. 

“At the moment this statement has been published, we are not in immediate danger, but the situation is critical and changes every minute,” part of the group’s statement read. “Presently, we are not able to work [on the] pavilion due to the risk to our lives.” 

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Please, contact katya@thenakedroom.com for press inquiries.#BiennaleArte2022#FountainofExhaustion#PavloMakov#UkranianPavilion#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/iMnO3Ng2IE
— Ukrainian Pavilion at Venice Biennale (@UApavilion) February 24, 2022

“If the situation changes, and it is safe to continue our work and travel, we will be in Venice,” the group’s statement continued. “We can not confirm yet that our project will be completed, but we can promise that we will do everything possible to save unique artwork produced by Pavlo Makov and our big team specially for the upcoming biennial during the past five months.”

The Art Newspaper is reporting that the exhibition was to include a seminal work by Makov, completed between 1995 and this year, which regrettably had to be smuggled out of the country and into Poland by curator Maria Lanko, who made the perilous trip successfully via car.

Meanwhile, Russia’s official entry into the Biennale has been completely abandoned as the artists representing the country, Alexandra Sukhareva and Kirill Savchenkov, as well as curator Raimundas Malašauskas resigned in protest and decried a situation where “civilians are dying under the fire of missiles, citizens of Ukraine are hiding in shelters, [and] Russian protesters are getting silenced.” 

pic.twitter.com/r4jGmQ498A
— raimundas malasauskas (@raimay) February 27, 2022

In the announcement of the cancelation of Russia's participation today, the Biennale praised the decision as courageous and expressed its sympathy with the people of Ukraine. “La Biennale expresses its complete solidarity for this noble act of courage and stands beside the motivations that have led to this decision, which dramatically epitomizes the tragedy that has beset the entire population of Ukraine,” adding, “La Biennale remains a place where peoples meet in art and culture, and condemns all those who use violence to prevent dialogue and peace.” 

The Ukrainian’s statement ended with a plea to the international community of artists to “use all our impact in order to stop the invasion” and that the war constituted “a [sic] clash of civilizations.” 

“A free and civilized world is attacked by the barbarian and aggressive one,” the statement ended. “If we continue being passive observers of the situation, we will lose everything we for and all the heritage of our predecessors – art, love, freedom of expression and the ability to create.”

Update March 1, 2022: A previous version of the article gave the impression that the Ukrainian Pavilion was canceled. We have corrected it, following feedback we received from the featured artist Pavlo Makov.