Pietrangelo Buttafuoco

Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, also known as Giafar Buttafuoco, is the president of the Venice Biennale, an Italian rightwing journalist and a public intellectual.

Early life Buttafuoco was born and raised in Catania, Sicily.

Buttafuoco supported the inclusion of Russia and Israel into the 2026 Venice Biennale despite the protests over numerous artists and the Italian government which appointed him.

Controversy with Pussy Riot On March 4, 2026, the performance group Pussy Riot issued a warning to "expect resistance", after the news became public about Russia's inclusion in the 2026 Biennale.

On March 10, 2026 a letter was signed by over 6,000 artists, including Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, claiming the decision to allow Russia to return to the Venice Biennale was part of Russia's soft power military doctrine.

On March 19, 2026 the group Pussy Riot published an open letter to Buttafuoco requesting access to the Giardini della Biennale during the Venice Biennale and claiming his support of Russian State artists but not dissidents was "performative".

On May 3 Luca Zaia commented that he had received a message from Pussy Riot and noted he had raised the issue directly with Buttafuoco.

On May 6, 2026, the group Pussy Riot staged a protest about Russia's inclusion. In a press conference after they claimed Buttafuoco denied any attempts at communication.

On May 7, 2026 police blocked the door to Buttafuoco's office, but had Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot enter and hand write a letter to be delivered to him. Tolokonnikova appeared on a Euronews broadcast outside the blockaded door and claimed "We tried to contact [Buttafuoco] through every available means, but unfortunately, we received no response."

On May 12, 2026, in an interview, Tolokonnikova called Buttafuoco "a man as small as Putin" due to his avoidance of communication while championing open dialogue.