La Francia riapre il suo storico padiglione alla Biennale Arte 2026 dopo i restauri con l’artista Yto Barrada
France will reopen its historic pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale (May 9–November 22, 2026) after restoration, with Franco-Moroccan artist Yto Barrada (b. 1971) presenting the immersive textile-based project "Comme Saturne," curated by Myriam Ben Salah. The exhibition uses the "dévoré" technique—acid selectively corrodes fabric—as a metaphor for destruction and creation, featuring a goat-skin kite, a Room of Folds with wool drapery that fades in natural light, a Laboratory inspired by Saturnalia, and a Study Room linked to Barrada's garden of dye plants in Tangier, culminating in the Room of the Devoured where chemically attacked material fragments into an aesthetic of wear and formlessness.
This matters because Barrada's pavilion engages pressing contemporary themes—transformation, fragility, colonial legacies, alternative pedagogy, and politicized botany—through a multidisciplinary practice spanning film, photography, sculpture, and publishing. The reopening of the restored French Pavilion at the Giardini, one of the Biennale's most prestigious venues, signals a continued commitment to national representation while Barrada's critical, process-based work challenges traditional hierarchies and offers a poetic yet politically charged reflection on material and cultural erosion.