We visited the 2026 Venice Art Biennale: the exhibitions and pavilions you shouldn’t miss

The 2026 Venice Art Biennale has opened across the Giardini, Arsenale, and venues throughout the city, with geopolitics, climate collapse, and national identities dominating the exhibitions. Notable pavilions include Austria's "Seaworld Venice" by Florentina Holzinger, the Czech and Slovak Pavilion's "Il Silenzio della Talpa" by Jakub Jansa and Selmeci Kocka Jusko, India's "Geographies of Distance: remembering home" featuring multiple artists, and the Taiwan Pavilion's "Screen Melancholy" by Li Yi-Fan. The Russian Pavilion has become a focal point of controversy, with guards and empty beer bottles outside, and the Pussy Riot collective staging a protest nearby.

The Italian artist who sails from the Island of Elba to Saint Helena: talking about power and making a film

L’artista italiano che parte dall’Isola d’Elba in barca a vela per raggiungere Sant’Elena: si parla di potere e si gira un film

Italian artist Luca Vitone (born Genoa, 1964) has launched a project titled "Pro Tempore," which involves a two-month sailing journey from the Island of Elba—Napoleon Bonaparte's first place of exile—to the remote island of Saint Helena, where Napoleon died in exile. The voyage, aboard the boat Adriatica, includes four intermediate stops (Balearic Islands, Algeciras, Canary Islands, Cape Verde) and is funded by the 14th edition of the Italian Council grant, in partnership with the Fondazione Oelle. The project explores the concept of temporary power and uses Napoleon's biography and the sea as metaphors for control and instability.