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In Minor Keys A Cacophony At 61st Venice Biennale – Miranda Carroll

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled 'In Minor Keys,' opened with a central exhibition curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, who died in 2025. The show features 110 artists and collectives, realized by a team of five curators known as 'la squadra di Koyo.' The exhibition spans the Giardini and Arsenale venues, with works including Otobong Nkanga's living facade installation, Theo Eshetu's dying olive tree, and Nick Cave's vibrant sculptures. Poems and quotes by Refaat al-Areer, Etel Adnan, Toni Morrison, and Ben Okri punctuate the spaces, encouraging visitors to pause and reflect.

museum exhibitions schedule May 27, 2026 visibility 1 link 21 artists

Centuries of Endurance Undergird “In Minor Keys”

The 2026 Venice Biennale's main exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, features 111 international artists with strong representation from Africa, the Caribbean, and their diasporas. The show emphasizes calm, centeredness, and self-forgiveness for historically oppressed peoples, setting aside rage and retribution. Kouoh died of liver cancer at age 57 shortly after being named curator, and her team—Rasha Salti, Marie Hélène Pereira, Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Siddhartha Mitter, and Rory Tsapayi—completed the exhibition according to her vision. Highlights include a Mardi Gras costume by Big Chief Demond Melancon and dedicated shrines to artists Issa Samb and Beverly Buchanan.

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