"I don't believe that art can change the world. But art can help us survive," Mr. Makov told AFP, before the opening this weekend of the Biennale, one of the most prestigious art events in the world.

Back after an interruption due to the pandemic, this 59th edition is overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Organizers banned Russian officials in protest against the invasion, while the Ukrainian delegation managed to leave Kyiv the day Russian troops crossed the border.

For Pavlo Makov, 63, it was inevitable that Russia would be excluded from the event, where 58 countries are represented in national pavilions through 213 artists.

"The dialogue that we have at the moment with Russian culture is held in one place, on the front," he says.

Baptized "The Fountain of Exhaustion", his installation is made up of 78 duck blue funnels arranged in a triangle and in which water flows which is collected in a small basin.

The murmur of water resounds in the room where this work takes pride of place, which its author considers "a metaphor for contemporary life".

The funnels were brought from kyiv by curator Maria Lanko: she left the Ukrainian capital when Russia launched its offensive and drove for six days through Romania, Hungary and Austria to finally arrive in Italy.

A visitor in front of the installation by Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov at the Venice Art Biennale on April 19, 2022 Vincenzo PINTO AFP

The 35-year-old had prepared for the possibility of a war: "We joked and said to each other: + Ok, if ever something happens we can put these boxes in a car and take them out", she told AFP.

She did, however, leave behind the imposing base of the installation.

"Piazza Ucraina"

Not far from there, the rooms of the Russian pavilion are empty.

The curator and the artists resigned after the invasion.

"There is no place for art when civilians are dying," said Russian artist Kirill Savchenkov.

Biennale organizers welcomed the move and barred anyone linked to the Russian government from entering the event, joining a global cultural boycott of Moscow due to the war.

They also funded the reconstruction of the Makov facility.

“It is really thanks to this solidarity that we can have this project completed here,” acknowledged the artist, who himself left Ukraine in a hurry with his family, who are currently in Austria.

The curator of the Venice Art Biennale, the Italian Cecilia Alemani, poses in front of a work on April 19, 2022 Vincenzo PINTO AFP

The Biennale, open to the public from April 23 to November 27, was originally scheduled to take place in 2021, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This edition, which has the theme "The milk of dreams", is directed by Cecila Alemani, a 45-year-old Italian who wanted to ensure the presence of a majority of female and non-binary artists.

"Over the 57 editions of the Biennale, with the exception of the last one, there has been a great preponderance of male artists. This is why I wanted to rebalance History", she explained at AFP.

About the conflict in Ukraine, she says she appreciated the decision of the Russian representatives to resign rather than "carry the burden of representing Russia at the 2022 Biennale and have this mark for the rest of their lives".

"It is also the role of the Biennale (...) to take into account the ups and downs of history", she judges.

In this spirit, she announced the launch of "Piazza Ucraina" (Ukraine Square), a space dedicated to meditation, discussions and performances.

On this space sits a mountain of sandbags, similar to those used in Ukraine to protect statues from bombardments.

© 2022 AFP