The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens amid global turmoil and internal controversy. Kouoh, who passed away in May 2025, conceived the exhibition around the metaphor of a "creole garden," emphasizing deep affinities between 111 artists from diverse locations such as Dakar, Beirut, and Salvador. The Biennale is overshadowed by recent geopolitical events, including US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, and faces protests: over 70 participating artists signed an open letter opposing the participation of Israel, Russia, and the US, while the Australian pavilion saw the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi after being dropped, and South Africa withdrew its official pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's femicide project, which she will still present independently.
This edition matters because it tests the Biennale's role as a platform for global dialogue during a period of heightened political crisis and censorship. Kouoh's curatorial vision, built on "relational geography" and the minor key as a mode of resilience, challenges the art world to address war, femicide, and state pressure while maintaining space for joy and collective creation. The open letter and national pavilion disputes highlight the Biennale's entanglement with contemporary geopolitics, making it a critical case study for how international exhibitions navigate representation, protest, and institutional integrity.