Three Artists Drop Out of Show at Scuola Piccola Zattere
Last week, Swiss artist Reto Pulfer, Iranian artist Maryam Hoseini, and German artist Anna Witt demanded their work be removed from the inaugural exhibition at nonprofit Scuola Piccola Zattere in Venice. The show, titled “One Year Score: Primo Movimento,” opened on November 22 and is scheduled to run until March 30, 2025. Three artists remain in the exhibition: Agnieska Mastalerz from Poland and Italians Ludovica Carbotta and Tomaso De Luca. Scuola Piccola Zattere was founded in November by Victoria Mikhelson, the daughter of Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin and a public supporter of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Leonid Mikhelson was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 and, while he has not been sanctioned by the US, several companies supplied by his operations have been. He is the founder and chairman of Russian natural gas producer Novatek, which supplies gas to Russia’s Sverdlov Plant. That plant was sanctioned by the US in 2023 and makes explosives and ammunition used by the Russian military in Ukraine. He …