Dries Verhoeven will represent the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026) with a new work titled *The Fortress*, installed in the Dutch Rietveld Pavilion in the Giardini. The 25-minute performance piece transforms the sunlit pavilion into a darkened bunker, featuring a raw vocal composition using only false vocal cords. Verhoeven describes the work as a meditation on transition and self-preservation, reflecting a Western society caught between its enlightened self-image and a dark vision of the future. The piece responds to geopolitical unrest outside the Biennale grounds and is designed to be melancholic and confrontational, contrasting with the main exhibition's theme, *In Minor Keys*.
Verhoeven's participation underscores the Venice Biennale's role as a mirror of global power dynamics and national identity. He argues that the Biennale reveals how privileged nations manage their anxieties, with countries that close borders or wage war standing harmoniously side-by-side in the Giardini. The national pavilion format, he notes, is a "dramaturgical gift" that highlights rising nationalism, exemplified by the US pavilion's plan to "showcase American excellence." The interview, part of ArtReview's daily series leading up to the Biennale, positions Verhoeven's work as a critical commentary on Western self-perception and the tension between idealism and geopolitical reality.