Venice Art Biennale: The Time of Nuances

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened under the artistic direction of the late Swiss-Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh. The exhibition features 111 artists and collectives, presenting a more subdued, poetic, and experiential approach compared to the previous edition's explicit decolonial program. It navigates contemporary political tensions, including the participation of Israel and the reopening of the Russian pavilion, while aiming for a radical return to art's own environment and its place in society.

The Biennale continues a significant shift in the global art narrative, solidifying the centrality of the "Global South"—artistic scenes from the Southern Hemisphere historically marginalized by Western discourse. Koyo Kouoh's posthumous curatorial concept of "minor keys" represents an evolution from proclamation to nuanced listening, suggesting a mature phase in the decolonial rebalancing of art history where the paradigm no longer needs to be loudly announced to be felt and understood.