VENICE — Artists and cultural workers made history at the Venice Biennale today as they launched a major strike that disrupted the pre-opening of the international exhibition. It is the first cultural strike in the biennale's 131-year history.

At least 27 of the exhibition’s 100 national pavilions were partially or fully shut down this morning, May 8, while artists draped or altered their works in the main exhibition In Minor Keys as part of a 24-hour strike for Palestine and for workers' rights. The Arsenale complex, one of the two exhibition venues, was shuttered in advance of the protest.

Beginning at 4:30pm, a massive protest timed with the strike saw thousands of people marching on Via Garibaldi to the Arsenale, filling the city’s streets with Palestinian flags and banners.…