More than 50 thousand people will be able to visit the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

The Russian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale will be available to the public only until May 8. On May 6, Russian Ambassador to Italy Alexey Paramonov told Izvestia.

"Now our exhibition is opening, and here, in the form in which we can see it today, is a performance, a Russian performance in the Venetian lagoon...> it will only be possible to see it during the pre—screening," he said.

The head of the Russian diplomatic mission added that the day before, journalists had already visited the pavilion of the Russian Federation, and today it is available for viewing for people who have received special invitations to the event. Others who wish, according to Paramonov, will be able to view the exhibits in video format from May 9.

The Russian ambassador expressed regret that the Italian leadership and the directorate of the Biennale faced "rude, assertive pressure and dictate" from representatives of the European Union (EU).

Anastasia Karneeva, Commissioner of the Russian Pavilion, stressed that a very interesting project was presented in the Russian pavilion. The exhibition is based on a quote from the French religious thinker Simone Weil — "A tree that has its roots in the sky." The symbolic tree, as explained by the expert, is powered by light and music, contributing to its flowering.

"The music that takes place in the pavilion, it feeds the tree every day and it blooms. That's why our tree is full of flowers. It is very important for us that all musical performances are absolutely, so to speak, performances from different places, from some small towns, some small villages," Karneeva said.

This story, the Izvestia interlocutor continued, shows the process of the true birth of culture. According to her forecasts, over 50,000 people will be able to visit the pavilion during the so—called "preview". This number will include mainly those people who are related to art.

Representatives of the European Commission (EC) told Izvestia on March 12 that they condemn the decision of the organizers of the Venice Biennale to allow Russia to participate in the event. Some time later, on April 15, EC Vice-President for Democracy and Security Henna Virkkunen admitted that she and her colleagues had put pressure on the organizers of the biennale to prevent Russia from participating in it.

The international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale resigned on April 30. A few days earlier, on April 23, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the withdrawal of the entire project grant in the amount of € 2 million due to the decision to invite Russian representatives to the exhibition, called such a step a relapse of anti-culture in the West. The exhibition itself opened on May 6. On the same day, Izvestia showed the atmosphere of the opening ceremony of the event.