Artist Andreas Angelidakis will represent Greece at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with a project titled 'Escape Room'. He plans to split the Greek Pavilion in two, referencing the National Schism in Greek history, and will create an immersive experience that explores the building's dual identities as a national symbol and an exhibition space, set to the soundtrack of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax'.
La Bretagne s’invite à la Biennale de Venise : un insolite pavillon dédié à la création bretonne s’est amarré dans la lagune
For the 61st Venice Biennale, a group of artists and art figures from Brittany have created an unofficial "Breton pavilion" in the form of a spectacular sailboat moored on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The boat, designed by artist Joachim Monvoisin, features contributions from Morgane Tschiember (who sewed a sail with a black cross, the 11th-century Breton flag) and master glassmaker Andrew Erdos (who made the navigation lights). Performances during the opening week included readings by Breton authors and traditional music concerts with binious and bombardes on the Via Garibaldi.
Kazakhstan has unveiled details for its national pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled “Qoñyr: Archive of Silence.” Curated by Syrlybek Bekbota, the exhibition features nine artists including Smail Bayaliyev, Asel Kadyrkhanova, and Ardak Mukanova, and will be hosted at the Museo Storico Navale. The presentation utilizes the Kazakh concept of "Qoñyr"—a term encompassing specific colors, sounds, and scents—to explore themes of Soviet domesticity, nuclear trauma, and cultural heritage through sound installations, video, and archival assemblages.
The international jury for the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled "In Minor Keys," has issued a statement declaring their intention to exclude from consideration any countries whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The jury, chaired by Solange Farkas and including members Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, was selected by artistic director Koyo Kouoh to award the Golden and Silver Lions among the 110 artists in the exhibition.
At the 60th Venice Biennale, the Sultanate of Oman presents "Zīnah (Adornment)," a pavilion conceived by artist and curator Haitham Al Busafi. The immersive installation, on view at the Arsenale Artiglierie from 9 May to 22 November 2026, draws on the Omani tradition of adorning horses with silver (al-zaanah) to explore themes of relation, movement, and shared presence. Visitors enter through darkness into a field of Omani sand, beneath a canopy of silver elements that respond to movement with sound. The work incorporates drawings by students and emerging artists from a workshop in Muscat, emphasizing collective authorship.
The Venice Biennale, one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions, opens its most contested edition in memory without a jury after the jury resigned in protest over the participation of Israel and Russia, both under investigation by the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses. Protests have erupted outside the Israeli and Russian pavilions, with demonstrators clashing with police, while feminist groups from Ukraine and Russia converged on the Russian Pavilion and Palestinians remembered artists killed in Gaza. The Biennale has replaced the jury with a public vote via email, with winners announced at the close on November 22.
Sierra Leone has made its inaugural appearance at the 61st Venice Biennale with a pavilion titled 'Worlds of Today' located at the Liceo Guggenheim. Curated with a focus on "minor keys" rather than grand spectacles, the exhibition features Sierra Leonean artists Hawa-Jane Bangura, Ayesha Feisal, Hickmatu Bintu Leigh, and Abu Bakarr Mansaray alongside practitioners from other ECOWAS nations. The pavilion functions as a sensorial, porous space that prioritizes communal resilience and spiritual epistemologies over the commodification of identity.
At the opening reception of "Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice," a Collateral Event of the 61st Venice Biennale, Hong Kong's Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, delivered a speech celebrating the exhibition. The event marks Hong Kong's 25th year of participation in the Biennale, featuring artists Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui, who present five new site-specific installations that explore stillness and overlooked rhythms of everyday life, in resonance with the Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys." For the first time, the Hong Kong Museum of Art co-organized the exhibition with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, curating a dialogue between the two artists.
The Venice Biennale has announced the voting rules for the new Visitors' Lion awards, which replace the traditional Golden Lions after the original jury resigned before the opening. On the same day the popular voting opened, dozens of artists from the central exhibition 'In Minor Keys' and several National Pavilions announced their withdrawal from the competition in solidarity with the resigned jury, releasing a statement via e-flux on May 9, 2026. The voting system requires visitors to have attended both the Giardini and Arsenale venues, with anonymous voting open until November 22, 2026.
The 61st Venice Biennale's main exhibition, 'In Minor Keys', curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, has opened after her sudden passing in 2025. Kouoh had fully planned the exhibition before her death, and a team of seven realized her vision. The show features 110 artists, including Wangechi Mutu, Nick Cave, Alfredo Jaar, and emerging talents like Ranti Bam. It opens with a poem by Refaat Alareer and an installation by Khaled Sabsabi, setting a contemplative tone amid themes of mourning, grief, and healing. The exhibition also highlights minority perspectives, including Caribbean and Central American artists, and confronts colonial histories through works like Florence Lazar's film on a hurricane-exposed necropolis.
The Venice Art Biennale's official awards ceremony, scheduled for May 9, has been canceled after the entire five-member jury resigned days before the event. The jury had previously announced they would not consider countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges, directly impacting Russia and Israel. Instead of jury-selected prizes, visitors will vote throughout the Biennale's run, with "Visitor Lions" awarded on November 22. The event, running from May 9 to November 22, features 100 national participations, including seven first-time countries, and a posthumous main exhibition titled "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman to lead the show. Iran withdrew on May 4 amid Middle East tensions, while Russia's return to the Biennale in 2026 has sparked EU threats to cut funding.
Five Canadian artists have been selected for the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale, titled *In Minor Keys*, which opens to the public next Saturday. The participants are Abbas Akhavan (featured in the Canada Pavilion), Manuel Mathieu, Rajni Perera, Marigold Santos, and one additional artist. The exhibition is the first Biennale curated by a Black woman, Cameroonian-Swiss curator Koyo Kouoh, who died suddenly in May last year after a cancer diagnosis, just six months after her appointment. Despite her death, the Biennale proceeded with her plans, with her team completing the work.
Morocco will debut its first-ever national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Art Biennale, presenting a monumental installation titled "Asǝṭṭa" by multidisciplinary artist Amina Agueznay. Curated by Meriem Berrada, the project is housed in the Arsenale's Artiglierie and explores themes of traditional craftsmanship, shared memory, and the symbolic threshold (âatba). The installation, which involves 166 Moroccan artisans and two Venetian collaborators, is conceived as a porous, liminal space that engages with the Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys," curated by Koyo Kouoh.
The 2026 Venice Art Biennale is proceeding with a posthumous main exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Cameroonian-born artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2025. The event features 100 national participations, including seven first-time countries, and has reinstated Russia's pavilion after its voluntary withdrawal following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Vanderbilt University has announced its inaugural participation in the Venice Biennale, marking a major milestone for the institution's arts program. Faculty artists Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Kamaal Malak have been selected to present works in the 61st International Art Exhibition, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. To complement the exhibition, the university will launch "Resonance: Vanderbilt University in Venice," a two-month public program series featuring sonic inquiries, performances, and scholarly convenings.
The Venice Biennale has officially announced the 111 artists, duos, and collectives selected for the 61st International Art Exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys." The exhibition follows the vision of the late Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in May 2024 after conceptualizing the show and selecting the majority of its participants. The roster features a diverse global lineup including Wangechi Mutu, Kader Attia, Khaled Sabsabi, and Laurie Anderson, with a curatorial focus on quiet resistance, poetic improvisation, and the "lower frequencies" of social and psychic life.
The curatorial team for the 61st Venice Biennale has unveiled the details for the 2026 exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys." The project follows the vision of the late Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman appointed to curate the Biennale, who passed away in May 2024. The exhibition will feature 111 artists and collectives, with a significant focus on the Global South and themes such as Shrines, Schools, and the Creole Garden. The team emphasized that the show is designed as a "collective score" rather than a traditional commentary on world events, prioritizing spiritual rest and radical social connection.
Russia e Israele non potranno vincere nessun premio alla prossima Biennale Arte di Venezia 2026. La giuria prende posizione
The international jury for the 61st Venice Biennale, led by Solange Farkas, has unanimously declared it will not consider countries whose leaders are currently accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. This means Russia and Israel are excluded from competing for the Golden Lion awards, including Best National Participation and Best Artist. The jury's statement, published on e-Flux Notes, emphasizes the Biennale's historical role as a platform connecting art with contemporary urgencies and acknowledges the complex relationship between artistic practice and state representation.
The Venice Biennale previewed its 61st edition in chaos on Tuesday, marked by the unprecedented resignation of its jury over the participation of Israel and Russia. Ukrainian artists displayed a statue of an origami deer from the war-torn eastern front, while Russian pavilion participants danced to house music and Palestinians marched wearing the names of artists killed in Gaza. The jury had stated it would not award prizes to countries under International Criminal Court investigation, singling out Russia and Israel, and its resignation has thrown the exhibition's structure into question.
La delicatezza come resistenza. Intervista alla curatrice del Padiglione Turchia alla Biennale di Venezia
For the 2026 Venice Biennale, the Turkey Pavilion, commissioned by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), will present "A Kiss on the Eyes" by artist Nilbar Güreş, curated by Başak Doğa Temür. The exhibition takes its title from a Turkish expression conveying affectionate closeness without intrusion, and features a mix of new productions and earlier works spanning sculpture, installation, painting, and works on paper and fabric. In an interview, curator Temür explains that the project avoids a retrospective or didactic approach, instead creating a spatial rhythm of approach, pause, and slight withdrawal, where intimacy, politics, irony, and fragility press against one another.
New reports reveal that Israeli Pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru issued legal threats against the Venice Biennale, alleging antisemitism and discrimination after the awards jury decided to exclude Israel and Russia from consideration due to human rights charges. The jury, which included Elvira Dyangani Ose, Zoe Butt, Marta Kuzma, Giovanna Zapperi, and Solange Farkas, initially stated on April 22 it would not consider nations whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Fainaru filed legal warnings with the Biennale, the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the Prime Minister's office. The jury abruptly resigned eight days later, leading the Biennale to scrap the Golden Lion awards and institute "Visitor Lions" decided by public vote. Reports indicate the Biennale's legal department warned jurors could be personally liable for damages, and Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli promised to promote Fainaru's work.
Intervista per scoprire Theo Eshetu, unico artista italiano alla Biennale di Venezia 2026
Theo Eshetu (London, 1958), the only Italian artist invited to the central exhibition "In Minor Keys" of the 2026 Venice Biennale curated by Koyo Kouoh, is profiled in an interview. Born to an Ethiopian father and Dutch mother, Eshetu trained in the Netherlands and London before settling in Rome in the early 1980s. He discusses his cosmopolitan background, his early struggles with belonging, and how he transformed that into artistic strength. The interview covers his career, his memories of the Roman art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, and his current work presented at the Biennale, including the piece "The Return of the Axum Obelisk" (2010).
Annalee Davis alla Biennale Arte di Venezia 2026. Il paesaggio come lutto, archivio e resistenza nel Padiglione Barbados
Annalee Davis, an artist from Barbados, will represent her country at the 2026 Venice Biennale with an installation titled "Let this be my Cathedral" within the exhibition "In Minor Keys." The work addresses ecological grief, colonial memory, and the possibility of care without erasing conflict, using suspended plants and organic materials to create a threshold where loss, vulnerability, and wonder remain in tension. Davis discusses the influence of curator Koyo Kouoh, whose vision shaped the Biennale, and the importance of research as an integral part of her artistic process.
Song E Yoon's exhibition "Songs Across Time" at Spazio 996/A in Venice, presented as a Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, pairs her Song E Code with Frédéric Bruly Bouabré's Bété alphabet. In an interview with Kun Sok, Yoon discusses how her work uses dots, intervals, and repetition to create a visual language that exists before conventional meaning, emphasizing bodily encounter, sensation, and the productive role of misreading.
Jury der Venedig-Biennale tritt zurück
The entire jury of the Venice Biennale, appointed by artistic director Koyo Kouoh, has resigned with immediate effect. In a statement released on Thursday, the jury members—including chair Solange Oliveira Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—cited a prior declaration from April 22 in which they announced they would not award Golden or Silver Lions to artists from countries whose political leadership is currently indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. Although no specific countries were named, the move implicitly targets Russia (President Vladimir Putin) and Israel (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), both subject to ICC arrest warrants. The resignation comes amid escalating tensions over Russia's participation in the Biennale despite EU sanctions, which had already led to a freeze of EU funding and widespread protests.
Sous pression, le jury de la Biennale de Venise démissionne et est remplacé par un vote du public
On April 30, just days before the Venice Biennale's public opening on May 9, the entire international jury responsible for awarding the Golden and Silver Lions resigned. The jury—comprising Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—had been caught in a escalating controversy after Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco reinstated Russia, which had been excluded since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The European Union threatened to suspend or cancel its €2 million subsidy if Russia remained included. The jury attempted to exclude countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court arrest warrants, effectively targeting Russia and Israel, but ultimately resigned under pressure from both external diplomatic turmoil and internal institutional opposition to any discrimination between pavilions.
DE LAS MINOR KEYS AL ESTRUENDO: LA CRISIS DE LA BIENAL DE VENECIA
The 61st Venice Biennale is engulfed in a structural crisis, marked by geopolitical tensions over the inclusion of Russia (amid its invasion of Ukraine) and Israel (amid the Gaza genocide). The Biennale Foundation, led by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, defended their participation on legalistic grounds, sparking outrage from over 200 artists, curators, and cultural workers who demanded Israel's exclusion, aligning with Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA). The international jury, chaired by Solange Farkas and including Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, resigned collectively on April 30 after deciding not to award prizes to countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court arrest warrants. This led to the cancellation of the traditional Golden and Silver Lions, replaced by audience-voted "Visitor Lions," with awards deferred until November. The European Commission suspended a €2 million subsidy over Russia's participation, and Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli notably skipped the May 9 opening.
On May 8, during the pre-opening of the Venice Biennale, the independent collective ANGA (Art Not Genocide Alliance) organized a strike protesting genocide and precarity in the art world. Pro-Palestinian activists entered the Arsenale, where part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh was installed, and hung posters on artworks calling for the liberation of Palestine and denouncing what they described as the Biennale's "art-washing" of Israel's reputation. The disruption blurred the line between activist intervention and the exhibition itself, as many works already addressed Palestine directly, including a poem by Refaat Alareer placed at the entrance.
Iran has denied withdrawing from the 2026 Venice Biennale, despite the Biennale's announcement that the country would not participate. Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani, director-general of visual arts at Iran's ministry of culture and Islamic guidance and the country's pavilion commissioner, stated that Iran requested more time rather than submitting a withdrawal. He cited the US-Israel war with Iran, political and economic challenges, and a sharp currency devaluation that tripled projected costs as reasons for the delay. Iran proposed a shorter two-to-three-month participation, which was rejected, but has since sent a letter insisting on opening its pavilion even after the opening. The foreign ministry has intervened to support Iran's participation, and a final response from the Biennale is expected soon.
The 61st Venice Biennale, themed 'In Minor Keys' by late curator Koyo Kouoh, has been marked by political protests against Russia and Israel's participation, pavilion closures, and threats to funding. Despite this tense atmosphere, several national pavilions quietly embody Kouoh's vision of nurture, intimacy, and reflection. Highlights include the Japan Pavilion's 'Grass Babies, Moon Babies' by Ei Arakawa-Nash, where visitors carry and care for baby dolls, and the Polish Pavilion's 'Liquid Tongues' by Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski, an immersive sound installation exploring Deaf culture and marginalized communication.