Adriano Pedrosa, the first Latin American and openly queer curator of the Venice Biennale, has unveiled a record-breaking artist list for the 60th edition titled "Foreigners Everywhere." Featuring 331 artists, the main exhibition is the largest in the event's history and introduces a "nucleo storico" designed to provide belated recognition to overlooked figures from the Global South and marginalized communities. Pedrosa’s selection process intentionally challenges the Western-centric traditions of the art world by focusing on themes of displacement and the "stranger."
Data analysis reveals a dramatic shift in the Biennale's demographic makeup, with the proportion of Western-born artists shrinking to approximately one-quarter of the total participants. This represents a significant departure from the 2019 and 2022 editions, where North American and European artists comprised the vast majority. By prioritizing artists from countries like Bolivia, Tajikistan, and Cameroon, the 2024 Biennale serves as a strategic provocation to the art market and institutional hierarchies, potentially reshaping the career trajectories of hundreds of artists from the Global South.