As the world entered the third year of co-existence with Covid-19, the pandemic faded to the background in many places as political and social strife took center stage.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 marked a major escalation in the conflict ongoing since the 2014 annexation of Crimea. At the 59th Venice Biennale, preparations for the Ukraine Pavilion were halted, while the Russia Pavilion artists, and , and the curator, , resigned, leading to the pavilion’s cancellation on February 28. After the European Union levied sanctions, including those prohibiting the sale and transfer of luxury goods, Finnish officials temporarily seized Russian artworks loaned from state museums—including the Hermitage Museum and State Tretyakov Gallery—as they were returning from Japan and Italy. On in Beijing, the Matisse Museum announced that they had canceled the loan of 280 artworks. The French museum’s decision came one day after China abstained from the United Nations General Assembly resolution to condemn the Russian offensive.
