In a series of Instagram posts, the curator sought to present a provocative reaction to the current politics of the Italian government.
A xenophobe and a populist, Italian deputy prime minister (of the coalition between the Northern League and the Five Star Movement) Matteo Salvini takes a hard line with regards to immigrants, many of whom died in the Mediterranean Sea last year. On a cultural level, he is known for his critique of the loaning of the Leonardo da Vinci works to the Louvre.
As reported by The Art Newspaper, Francesco Bonami has so far decreed:
— "A new law that will forbid the Venice Biennale to invite foreign artists. Only Italian artists.”
— "No more biennales around the world. Biennale is like mozzarella and the pizza, it’s our product. So I’m going to sign a decree that doesn’t allow anybody to use the name ‘biennale’ outside Venice."
— "The international pavilions are going to pay us the rent they owe us since 1895…"
