While the financial meltdown may have reduced the number of potential buyers, the display itself has become far more political and hard-hitting.

Everything seems a little different at this year’s Biennale. Because of the crisis, even VIP guests are being charged an unprecedented $200 entrance fee.

Pavilions are often sponsored by those who have nothing to do with art. And this time, the exhibits look very political.

Kristina Norman, for example, transformed the traumatic events of her native country, Estonia, into a work of art.

“I must say that 90 percent of people were really angry with my work and with the fact that it is going to represent Estonia in Venice,” the artist said to RT.

In 2007, the Estonian government removed the monument of the Bronze Soldier from its original site. The sculpture was a symbol of victory of the Red Army over fascism in WWII. Massive protests followed the removal of the statue, leading to one death and dozens of casualties.

Two years after those events, the artist built a replica of the monument, and has persuaded the jury that, if it is not history anymore, it is art.

“Two years ago, it was probably the Estonian government who won the media war. And what I’m actually doing as an artist, I am attacking that image. And I’m questioning whether that really was a victory,” Kristina Norman continued.

And it is not only the artist who is questioning the Estonian authorities but the thousands of people who will attend the Biennale over the next six months will have a chance to make their minds up for themselves.

“Why? I mean, this monument stood there for 60 years and of course, Russia was freeing the continent of Europe from fascism,” one of the visitors has commented.

Kristina Norman is not alone at the Biennale in challenging the re-writing of history. Georgian artist Koka Ramishvili suggested his vision of how easily the recent past can be erased by politicians once and for all.

“I was born in the Soviet Union. That means I cannot throw out this experience, and I work with this experience, and that is why I am interesting to museums and galleries around the world. I do not throw things out. I try to transform them,” Koka Ramishvili told RT.

Surprisingly enough, events of the past linked to Russia have not only found their reflection inside art pavilions, but on the streets as well. Among them is the graffiti depicting the victims of the Kursk submarine disaster.

These images of the deceased Russian submariners have been adorning the walls of Venice for several years now, and nobody here seems to object. No wonder, then, that Kristina Norman chose this very city to exhibit her art. Unlike in her homeland, where the display was removed by police, here at least it will be securely in place until the end of the Biennale.