Cuban Painting Cannot Make It To Venice Biennale Due To War In Ukraine

Image taken by Simone Leigh via Venice Biennale Press Office

Keen-eyed art lovers stepping into the Arsenale at the Venice Biennale will probably sense that something is amiss, as at its entrance is the ghost of a significant artwork by late Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón. The real painting, La consagración (1991), is a no-show as a result of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

The work was scheduled to travel from its place of residence at the Ludwig Museum in St Petersburg’s State Russian Museum to The Milk of Dreams (April 23-27 November), the main exhibition in the Arsenale. Sadly, it did not reach Venice.

“Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it was impossible to show the original work here,” text on the wall now reads, as reported by ARTnews.

It’s one of the iconic pieces of the artist, who was known for her detailed, black-and-white collographs depicting Abakuá, an all-male, secret Afro-Cuban society. Ayón died in 1999.

The artwork ended up at the State Russian Museum in 1994 when German collectors Irene and Peter Ludwig donated pieces from their trove of 20th-century art to the institution, per the Art Newspaper.

A print of the painting now takes the place of the original. A spokesperson describes it as “a visual reminder” of what was intended to be there.

[via The Art Newspaper and ARTnews, cover image taken by Simone Leigh via Venice Biennale Press Office]