News The Russian art collective and the feminist group FEMEN displayed Ukrainian flags and chanted as police blocked access to the pavilion. Pussy Riot and FEMEN storm the Russian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale on May 6, 2026. (photo Max Avdeev, courtesy Pussy Riot) VENICE — Thick plumes of pink smoke billowed outside Russia’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale this morning, May 6, alongside blue and yellow flares evoking the Ukrainian flag. Approximately 50 activists from the art collective Pussy Riot and FEMEN, a Ukrainian feminist movement, protested Russia’s participation for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The action targeted what organizers described as the Biennale’s willingness to lend legitimacy to artists and officials aligned with the Russian government.…