C’è un padiglione assente alla Biennale d’Arte di Venezia 2026 di cui nessuno ha parlato: il Venezuela
The Venezuelan pavilion at the 2026 Venice Art Biennale remains closed, an absence that has gone largely unnoticed amid other controversies surrounding the Russian, Israeli, South African, and Iranian pavilions. Designed by architect Carlo Scarpa and built between 1953 and 1956, the pavilion now displays a trilingual sign stating it will "rise again soon," reflecting the country's collapse after the kidnapping and imprisonment of President Nicolás Maduro by the United States and the installation of a fragile pro-American interim government.
This absence matters because it underscores how geopolitical instability directly impacts cultural participation on the world stage. Venezuela's historically irregular presence at the Biennale—including censorship of artist Pedro Morales in 2003 and a delayed opening in 2019—has now been completely halted by the country's political and economic crisis. The closure of a pavilion designed by a celebrated architect like Carlo Scarpa also highlights the loss of architectural and artistic heritage, making this a significant cultural casualty of international power struggles.