Russian pavilion to stay closed as outcry over Israel’s inclusion also grows – but nesting seagull provides some light relief

The 61st Venice Biennale vernissage began on Tuesday under grey clouds and rain showers, as political tension, parties and protest dominated proceedings at one of the art world’s biggest events.

Lubaina Himid, the British entrant, who has spent a career creating work that picks at her country’s colonial past, took over the UK’s pavilion with her large-scale paintings and sound collage that recalls a “perfect British summer’s day”.

Rising sea levels and ecological damage caused by heavy use of flood defence system force city authorities to consider next move

The Arsenale, the colossal shipyard that was the engine of the Venetian Republic’s domination for seven centuries, remains the nucleus of the city’s control over the water. Its northern section is made up of cavernous brick warehouses called capannoni, which in the 16th century could produce a warship a day through a rigorously ordered assembly line.

Now, one of them houses the operations centre of the Mose, the sprawling flood defence system that protects the city.