Russian oligarchs like to embellish their image by investing in art: billionaire Viktor Vekselberg collects Fabergé eggs, the most precious of which he has donated to the Russian state; billionaire Vladimir Potanin has donated an important collection of Russian art to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and so on. The latest example: the opening of a new institution to promote contemporary art in Venice, financed by the daughter of oligarch Leonid Mikhelson, Viktoria, with her father’s money. Like Vekselberg and Potanin, Mikhelson is under international sanctions. His flourishing companies play an active role in the Russian war effort. Can we turn a blind eye to the origin of the money Viktoria Mikhelson donated to the city of Venice?
Last week, Venice was bustling with visitors exploring the Giardini, the Arsenale, and the scattered national pavilions and exhibitions throughout the city. The Biennale was nearing its end, and this final opportunity to experience its displays attracted people from across the globe. Yet, the “closing time” atmosphere was upended by the opening of a new institution, Scuola Piccola Zattere, on November 23–24, just two days before the conclusion of the 60th Venice Art Biennale.
The name of the new institution suggests a connection to the Venetian tradition of the Scuole Grandi, religious organizations founded in the 13th Century that were renowned for their charitable work. However, the intentionally modest term Piccola (small) indicates a more contemporary mission: supporting the development of Venice’s contemporary art scene. According to its press release, Scuola Piccola Zattere is “a non-profit space dedicated to research and continuing education in the expanded field of contemporary arts.” Its activities will focus particularly on fostering artistic communities who live, study, and work in Venice.
The inaugural exhibition, One Year Score: Primo Movimento, featured works by a diverse group of young, progressive artists: Italians Ludovica Carbotta and Tomaso De Luca; Iranian artist Maryam Hoseinin, based in Chicago; Polish artist Agnieszka Mastalerz from Warsaw; Swiss artist Reto Pulfer, living in Germany; and German artist Anna Witt, based in Vienna. It is challenging to impress Venice with international contemporary art exhibitions, but the choice of such a constellation of young, progressive, and cosmopolitan artists for the inaugural show of the new Venetian institution is truly commendable.
However, the new Scuola comes with a controversial backstory – it occupies a palazzo granted by the city for long-term use to a cultural foundation established by Leonid Mikhelson, Putin’s notorious crony. Originally opened to the public in 2017, the palazzo was home to the Venetian branch of Mikhelson’s VAC Foundation (Victoria – the Art of Being Contemporary), named after his daughter. While the foundation organized numerous exhibitions, its activities abruptly ceased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The VAC nameplate quietly disappeared from the building’s facade.
The war triggered a broader crisis for Mikhelson’s cultural ventures. In Moscow, the VAC’s flagship project, the GES-2 House of Culture – an immense decommissioned power station extravagantly renovated by Renzo Piano – also faced turmoil. In February 2022, as the Russian aggression began, VAC’s Italian curator, Francesco Manacorda, resigned as director, followed by a group of Russian curators. Back in Venice, the palazzo became a flashpoint in May when it was occupied by a motley group of North Italian anarchists and Green activists protesting both Russia’s aggression and Mikhelson’s companies ecological transgressions. After the spectacular storming of the palace and a short-lived occupation it was reclaimed by the Italian police to remain closed until November 23 of this year.
The cultural program of the VAC seat, now refurbished into Scuola Piccola Zattere, carefully avoids any mention of Russia. However, it is entirely financed by Viktoria Mikhelson, the daughter of a sanctioned oligarch, Leonid Mikhelson, whose name appears on numerous sanctions lists. Mikhelson has become a direct participant in Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine. His company, Novatek, supplies gas to the Ministry of Defense and defense enterprises that manufacture explosives and ammunition, including FAB-500 bombs used to devastate Ukrainian cities. Weapons such as the Grad (Hail), Smerch (Tornado), and Uragan (Hurricane) multiple rocket launchers, as well as missile systems like Topol-M (Poplar-M) and Bulava (Mace), depend on gas and chemicals supplied by Mikhelson’s enterprises. This list of armaments could easily be extended.
Beyond manufacturing bombs, mines, missiles, and other tools of mass destruction, Novatek’s entities also financially support volunteers fighting in Ukraine through the Courage Fund, as reported by Important Stories (Vazhnye Istorii). Alongside salaries from the Ministry of Defense, the fund pays contractors between 200,000 and 300,000 rubles per month.
The opening of the new Venetian foundation in a palazzo connected to such a notorious oligarch immediately attracted public scrutiny. The Scuola Piccola Zattere, an Italian non-profit organization operating under the supervision of Italian authorities and the Prefecture of Venice, has sought to distance itself from controversy. Its defense asserts that all activities of Scuola Piccola are financed solely by Viktoria Mikhelson, with no connection to her father.
Irene Calderoni, the curator of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin and now artistic director of Scuola Piccola Zattere, stated:
“It is entirely apolitical, and both the founder and the management of Scuola Piccola Zattere strictly comply with current regulations, ensuring that all funding aligns with these standards. Viktoria Mikhelson, a private citizen residing in Europe, is not subject to sanctions in Europe and has no ties to the Russian government. The Foundation’s activities are funded solely by Ms Mikhelson using her personal assets. The aim of this project is to establish a cultural platform dedicated to the city of Venice and the development of young generations of artists.”
Viktoria Mikhelson, a graduate of New York University and the Courtauld Institute in London, as well as a member of the board of the New Museum in New York, is a passionate supporter of contemporary art. She evidently has personal resources to back the Foundation, with her net worth estimated to exceed one billion dollars.
In 2018, anticipating potential sanctions, Leonid Mikhelson transferred ownership of his company “Nova,” which specializes in constructing gas pipelines, to his daughter. In January 2023, he further transferred ownership of the company Optima to Viktoria Mikhelson. Optima controls 2.3% of Novatek’s shares and owns the GES-2 Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow. Additionally, Viktoria Mikhelson became the owner of one of Moscow’s oldest movie theaters, Udarnik, which GES-2 acquired in October 2022. Another notable asset of Optima is the Cypriot company Antarctic Investments Ltd, which owns LLC Vostok, a public-private scientific station.
Last year, Viktoria Mikhelson received dividends totaling 6.3 billion rubles (€55,103,794) from her shares in Novatek – money tainted with the blood of Ukrainians killed by bombs and missiles produced with the involvement of Mikhelson’s companies.
Irene Calderoni is correct in stating that Viktoria Mikhelson is not “subject to sanctions in Europe,” much like numerous other scions of Putin’s inner circle who either reside in the European Union or regularly visit its capitals and resorts despite the ongoing war. Companies in Russia, as well as villas in Switzerland and on the French Riviera, were conveniently transferred to their names in a timely manner.
The story of Viktoria Mikhelson, founder of Scuola Piccola Zattere, exemplifies both the superficial nature of European sanctions and the duplicity of Venetian officials and respected Italian curators who are content to develop “the young generations of artists” using money stained with the blood of victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Art historian, exhibition curator, investigative journalist. Lives in Kyiv.
