Haitham Al Busafi will represent Oman at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026) with an immersive installation titled *Zīnah*, inspired by the Omani tradition of Al Zaanah—the silver adornment made for horses. The work transforms this craft into a sensory environment where visitors walk on sand from Oman’s desert interior beneath suspended metal forms derived from horse adornments, exploring themes of recognition, dignity, and the extension of self through adornment. Al Busafi responds to the Biennale’s theme, *In Minor Keys*, by emphasizing quiet forces like weight, friction, shimmer, and sound, aiming to move away from spectacle toward resonance.
This participation matters because it brings a little-known Omani tradition to one of the world’s most prestigious art platforms, allowing it to speak in a contemporary language both for international audiences and for Omanis themselves. Al Busafi argues that the Venice Biennale remains important as a rare stage where artworks from diverse contexts can propose how we might live, listen, and recognize one another, especially amid rising nationalisms. His pavilion seeks to open a complex space of relation rather than assert a hardened national identity, underscoring that difference and commonality are both essential.