Jeff Bezos Wedding in Venice: Billionaires, Culture and Protest

Another week, another reminder:

culture and art don’t survive without the ultra-rich.

And yeah, this isn’t some new crisis of tomorrow.
It’s been like this for thousands of years.

Patronage built empires, funded masterpieces, shaped entire cities — and somehow we’re still playing the same old game.

Just with bigger yachts.
This week’s headline?

Jeff Bezos.
Can’t fix Amazon’s problems.
Wants to fly to space.
But first — Venice.

And not for some tiny private ceremony.
The man is reportedly spending around $54 million on his wedding, with parts of the city effectively turning into a billionaire playground for a few days.

Sounds dystopian.
But nope.
Just luxury tourism.

Venetian residents and activists weren’t exactly excited about it. Protests started. And who immediately came to Bezos’s defence?
The local government.

Because $54,000,000 has a very calming effect on political principles.
One ultra-rich American apparently gets more respect from the local government than a whole city of actual residents.

Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, even said the city might have to apologise to Bezos over the protests.
Beautiful.

Imagine being a local resident worried about tourism, housing, overcrowding and the slow transformation of your city into a luxury theme park...

The wild part?
These people probably genuinely love “classic” culture.
Venice itself is basically one enormous artwork.
And maybe — maybe — if we’re lucky, Bezos and people like him won’t help turn it into a luxury ghost town.

Big maybe.
Because this creates a pretty gross precedent.
If you’re rich enough — and apparently politically connected enough — you don’t really visit a city anymore.

You temporarily acquire it.
A palace here.
A hotel there.
A few boats.
Some security.
A closed street.
Maybe an island.

Congratulations. Venice is yours for the weekend.

But here’s the annoying part.
We also have to admit something.
The ultra-rich are still the people buying expensive art.
Funding museums.
Donating collections.
Paying for restorations.
Keeping masterpieces out of storage rooms.

Sometimes even rescuing works that might otherwise disappear into private bunkers in countries where culture is treated slightly worse than oil.

Eventually, some of that money comes back into public culture.
Eventually.
So yeah.

Maybe Jeff Bezos won’t suddenly solve every problem faced by Amazon workers trying to unionise.

But maybe his money gives Venice something. Not necessarily to Venetians.
That would be too easy.

More likely, it helps Venice continue becoming a beautiful private club for people who can afford to arrive by yacht.

And with climate change literally breathing down the city’s neck, maybe billionaires really will end up being among the few people wealthy enough to help preserve places like Venice.

Which is depressing.

Because the local government sometimes seems more capable of defending a billionaire’s wedding than defending its own residents.

So maybe this is the future of cultural preservation:
Governments can’t afford it.
Citizens can’t control it.
And billionaires save it —
then reserve it for dinner.
Who knows?

...your worst artist and best friend,

hEhe and my contemporary art criticism

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