Interview with Wallace Chan, the artist who created a bridge between Venice and Shanghai through water

Intervista a Wallace Chan, l’artista che attraverso l’acqua ha creato un ponte tra Venezia e Shanghai

Wallace Chan, the Hong Kong-born artist turning 70, has launched a dual-exhibition project titled "Vessels of Other Worlds" between Venice and Shanghai, curated by James Putnam. In Venice, the show runs concurrently with the Biennale at the Cappella di Santa Maria della Pietà (Vivaldi's church), featuring three titanium sculptures inspired by Catholic holy oils, surrounded by smaller works evoking water droplets. In Shanghai, the same sculptures appear at the Long Museum (West Bund) starting July 18, 2026, on a monumental scale—seven, eight, and ten meters tall—with a kaleidoscopic interior accessible through a door in the central piece. The exhibitions also include sound compositions by Brian Eno and reference Chan's earlier Venice shows (Titans, Totem, Transcendence).

Hong Kong Artists Bring Quiet Reflection to Venice

The 61st Venice Biennale, themed “In Minor Keys” by late curator Koyo Kouoh, emphasizes quiet reflection over spectacle. A collateral exhibition titled “Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice,” curated by the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), runs through November 22, 2026, and features two Hong Kong-born artists: Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui. Ng’s installation *Laundry Nocturne* (2026) uses projections and sound to connect the shared laundry-drying traditions of Venice and Hong Kong, while Hui’s *I Would Like to Open a Window for You* (2026) incorporates wrought-iron window frames crafted with local metalsmiths. Both artists explore everyday experiences, memory, and quiet emotions, aligning with the Biennale’s call for a slower, more reflective engagement with art.

Boats and trains, not planes: reflections on a greener—but sometimes greenwashed—Venice Biennale

The article recounts the author's train journey from London to Venice for the 61st Venice Biennale, highlighting the environmental benefits and pleasant experience of traveling by rail versus flying, despite higher costs and longer duration. It then focuses on the Biennale's central exhibition "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, which foregrounds environmental themes through works that engage with earth, nature, and ecological stakes, featuring artists like Otobong Nkanga, Célia Vasquez Yui, Theo Eshetu, Linda Goode Bryant, and Annalee Davis.

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.

Finally, Culture Minister Giuli visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale and made peace with President Buttafuoco

Finalmente il Ministro della Cultura Giuli ha visitato il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia 2026 e ha fatto pace con il Presidente Buttafuoco

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli finally visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale alongside Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, marking their first public appearance together after earlier tensions led Giuli to skip the opening ceremony. During the visit, Buttafuoco proposed that the work of artist Chiara Camoni, whose exhibition "Con te con tutto" is curated by Cecilia Canziani, should find a permanent home after the Biennale ends, sparking discussion about the future of pavilion artworks.

Open Letter in Support of the Artist Asel Kadyrkhanova

An open letter initiated by members of the Kazakhstani and international art community protests the removal of artist Asel Kadyrkhanova's work *Machine* (2013) from the Kazakhstan pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. The mixed-media installation, which addresses Stalinist repression through a vintage typewriter, arrest warrants, and red threads, was dismantled on May 5, 2026, reportedly by order of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Culture and Information, just before the pavilion's opening. The artist and curator were allegedly pressured to alter the work beforehand, and the ministry initially cited restrictions from the Italian side, but the Italian Ministry of Defense denied involvement.

ENTRE PERRO Y LOBO CANADA LLEVA EL CREPUSCULO A LA BIENAL DE VENECIA

Abbas Akhavan, born in Tehran in 1977, will represent Canada at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with an exhibition titled "Entre chien et loup" (Between Dog and Wolf). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Kim Nguyen, the Canada Pavilion is transformed into a monumental Wardian case—a 19th-century plant transport device—serving as a greenhouse for Victoria water lilies. The seeds were germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the installation will be on view until November 22, 2026.

BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF CANADA BRINGS TWILIGHT TO THE VENICE BIENNALE

Abbas Akhavan, born in Tehran in 1977, represents Canada at the 61st Venice Biennale with an exhibition titled "Entre chien et loup" (Between Dog and Wolf). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Kim Nguyen, the installation transforms the Canada Pavilion into a monumental Wardian case—a 19th-century plant transport device—converted into a greenhouse for Victoria water lilies. The lilies, native to South America and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova from seeds provided by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, reference their prominent display in the Crystal Palace during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The exhibition runs until November 22, 2026.

À la Biennale de Venise, le pavillon de l’Ouzbékistan fait revivre la mer d’Aral

The Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, curated around the figure of author Allayar Darmenov, brings together artists including Vyacheslav Akhunov, Zi Kakhramonova, A. A. Murakami, Zulfiya Spowart, and Nguyen Phuong Linh to explore the ecological disaster of the Aral Sea. Once the world's fourth-largest lake, it was drained by Soviet irrigation projects for cotton farming; the pavilion's installations—such as Kakhramonova's participatory salt-fish molding piece and Spowart's cradle-like sculpture—imaginatively revive the vanished sea and its endemic species.

Venice Biennale 2026 Roundup

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opened in May 2026 amid significant turmoil. The Austrian Pavilion features Florentina Holzinger's performance piece "Seaworld Venice," centered on a giant bell that chimes hourly. The biennale has been marked by the death of its curator, the resignation of the international jury over the inclusion of Russia and Israel, protests by Pussy Riot and the Art Not Genocide Alliance, and the cancellation of the South African Pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's "Elegy," which honors murdered women including a Palestinian poet. The US Pavilion's state-sponsored offerings have also drawn criticism.

24 Hours with Jewel at the 2026 Venice Biennale Festival

Singer-songwriter Jewel has transformed into a multimedia artist, presenting a solo exhibition titled '24 Hours with Jewel' at the 2026 Venice Biennale. The show features 34 new works, including paintings, sculptures, and kinetic installations, with the centerpiece 'Heart of the Ocean'—an eight-foot kinetic sculpture created in collaboration with scientists from NASA, NOAA, Stanford, and UC Berkeley that translates real-time oceanographic data into light and sound. V Magazine followed Jewel for 24 hours as she prepared for her Biennale debut, documenting her day from rooftop meditations and water taxi rides with her son to private patron tours and an opening night performance in a custom Schiaparelli dress.