Across Venice, Artists Defy Censorship to Mourn and Memorialize Gaza

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled “In Minor Keys,” features numerous artworks that mourn and memorialize the destruction of Gaza, despite censorship pressures. The main exhibition opens with a poem by slain Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, and includes works by artists such as Theo Eshetu, Mohammed Joha, Manuel Mathieu, and Avi Mograbi that directly or indirectly address the conflict. Outside the official Biennale, South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s performance series “Elegy” was censored by her country’s culture minister after she proposed a version honoring murdered Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, leading her to present the work independently at a church in Venice.

Historic Strike Disrupts Biennale as Thousands March in Venice

On May 8, 2026, artists and cultural workers staged the first strike in the 131-year history of the Venice Biennale, disrupting the pre-opening of the international exhibition. At least 27 of the 100 national pavilions were partially or fully shut down, and thousands marched through Venice to the Arsenale, which was barricaded by Italian riot police. The strike, organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) and local activist groups, was a 24-hour action for Palestine and workers' rights, with some artists altering or draping their works in the main exhibition, "In Minor Keys."

Documenta unveils first all-woman curatorial team for 2027

Documenta has announced the first all-woman curatorial team for its 16th edition, set to take place in Kassel, Germany, from June 12 to September 19, 2027. Artistic director Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, selected four curators—Carla Acevedo-Yates, Romi Crawford, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro, and Xiaoyu Weng—to develop the exhibition, publications, and programming. Each curator brings distinct expertise: Acevedo-Yates focuses on diaspora and cultural production; Crawford on race and American visual culture; Rodríguez Castro on writing and editing; and Weng on globalization, feminism, and decolonization.

Agitate, Educate, Organize. A Conversation with the Indonesian Collective That Is in Venice with Two Projects

Agitare, educare, organizzare. Una conversazione con il collettivo indonesiano che è a Venezia con due progetti

Sale Docks, an activist art space born from a 2007 occupation in Venice, has invited the Indonesian collective Taring Padi to collaborate on two projects. The first is the exhibition "Taring Padi: People's Liberation," which reactivates banners as tools for propaganda, mobilization, and resistance. The second is a public intervention in Venice, where the collective and local community will repaint the walls of the historic social center Laboratorio Occupato Morion. The article includes an interview with Taring Padi, which was founded in 1998 in Yogyakarta by students and activists, and discusses their use of wayang shadow-puppet imagery and collaborative processes to agitate, educate, and organize communities.