61st Venice Biennale
| 61st Venice Biennale | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Art exhibition |
| Begins | May 6, 2026 (preview), May 9, 2026 (public) |
| Ends | November 22, 2026 |
| Location | Venice |
| Country | Italy |
Previous event | 60th Venice Biennale (2024) |
The 61st Venice Biennale is an upcoming international contemporary art exhibition to be held in 2026. The Venice Biennale takes place every two years in Venice, Italy.
In 2026, the theme of the main curatorial exhibit is “In Minor Keys.”[1]
The public exhibitions days start May 9 with previews on May 6. The festival runs until November 22.[2]
Background
[edit]The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater.[3]
Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well.[3] Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in the Venice Arsenale and palazzos throughout the city.[4]
Central exhibition
[edit]Koyo Kouoh, chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, was supposed to serve as the 61st Venice Biennale's artistic director but died in May 2025.[5][6] Nonetheless, the festival, in conjunction with the family continued her theme of “In Minor Keys.”[7]
Scandalous developments
[edit]- Participation of Russia, Israel and the USA
The decision by the Biennale president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, to allow Russia, Israel and the USA to participate made headlines for weeks. The participation of the warring states of Israel and the USA was also criticized.
On April 30, 2026 is was announced that all jurors of the Biennale decided to resign their positions. The jury consistied of five personalities, led by Brazilian Solange Farkas. Further members were Zoe Butt (Australia), Elvira Dyangani Ose (Spain), Marta Kuzma (USA) and Giovanna Zapperi (Italy). No county was mentioned, but the statement was cristal clear — all five jurors declared their reluctance to honor artists from countries whose leadership is under investigation by the International Criminal Court. This applies to Russia and Israel, there are arrest warrants against Putin (since 2023) and against Netanyahu (since 2024).[8]
As a result of the fact, that the Biennale now lacks a jury, the award ceremony was postponed from the opening to closure of the festival. It might even be, so the Austrian Public Broadcasting ORF, that there will be no Awards this year at all. Instead, there shall be two „Leoni dei Visitatori“, to be awarded by the visitors of the exhibitions.[9]
- Australian pavillon
Australia, after selecting Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino to create a work for the Australia Pavilion in February 2025, rescinded their decision a week later, after News Corp news outlet The Australian raised concerns and the matter was raised in Parliament. The decision led to outrage in the artistic community and resignations from the board of the commissioning body, Creative Australia, and the other five shortlisted artistic teams have said that they would not allow their work to be shown.[10][11][12] A senator called the affair an ″international embarressment″, the artist declared that he could not sleep any longer, having nightmares being so traumatized. Thereafter a crowdfunding and a "plea for help" for an independent participation of the artist were initiated. Some members of the staff and the board resigned, an outrage among artists led to resignation requests, a letter of staff members criticized the "culture of fear, discrimination and mismanagement".[13] Following an independent review and massive public pressure, the decision was reversed in July 2025. Creative Australia apologized to Sabsabi, and he was officially reinstated as the representative for 2026.
National pavilions
[edit]Countries began to announce their national representatives even before the previous exhibition closed in 2024.[14] Each country selects artists to show at their pavilion, ostensibly with an eye to the Biennale's theme.[3]
| Nation | Location | Artist(s) | Curator(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | Giardini | Genti Korini | Małgorzata Ludwisiak | [15] |
| Australia | Giardini | Khaled Sabsabi | Michael Dagostino | [15] |
| Austria | Giardini | Florentina Holzinger | [15] | |
| The Bahamas | Giardini | Lavar Munroe and John Beadle | Krista Thompson | [15] |
| Belgium | Giardini | Miet Warlop | Caroline Dumalin | [15] |
| Canada | Giardini | Abbas Akhavan | [15] | |
| The Netherlands | Giardini | Dries Verhoeven | Rieke Vos | [16] |
| Estonia | Around Venice | Merike Estna | [15] | |
| France | Giardini | Yto Barrada | [15] | |
| Ireland | Around Venice | Isabel Nolan | Georgina Jackson | [15] |
| Luxembourg | Around Venice | Aline Bouvy | Stilbé Schroeder | [15] |
| Switzerland | Giardini | Miriam Laura Leonardi, Yul Tomatala, Nina Wakeford | Gianmaria Andreetta, Luca Beeler | [15] |
| Taiwan | Around Venice | Li Yi-Fan | [15] | |
| United States of America | Giardini | Alma Allen | Jeffrey Uslip | [15] |
References
[edit]- ^ "Venice Biennale Artists Push to Ban U.S., Israel, and Russia From Exhibition". Artnet News. March 31, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ^ "Biennale Arte 2024 | La Biennale Arte 2026 si terrà dal 9 maggio al 22 novembre". La Biennale di Venezia (in Italian). February 28, 2025. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ^ a b c Russeth, Andrew (April 17, 2019). "The Venice Biennale: Everything You Could Ever Want to Know". ARTnews. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
- ^ Herriman, Kat (May 16, 2019). "What to See at the Venice Biennale". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019.
- ^ Greenberger, Alex (December 3, 2024). "Koyo Kouoh Named Curator of 2026 Venice Biennale". ARTnews.com. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ https://artreview.com/koyo-kouoh-pan-african-curator-and-director-of-mocaa-1967-2025/
- ^ Carollo, Elisa (February 25, 2026). "The Venice Biennale Announces 111 Artists for Its 2026 Edition, Koyo Kouoh's "In Minor Keys"". Observer. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ^ The Kyiv Independent: Venice Art Biennale's jury resigns in protest over Russian, Israeli presence just days before festival starts, 30 April 2026
- ^ ORF: Jury tritt aus Protest geschlossen zurück, 1 May 2026
- ^ Cmielewski, Cecelia (February 14, 2025). "'A shameful call by Creative Australia': the arts community reacts to Khaled Sabsabi being dropped from the Venice Biennale". The Conversation. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Crabb, Annabel (February 18, 2025). "How Creative Australia's perplexing backflip on Khaled Sabsabi defines our current moment of turmoil". ABC News. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Solomon, Tessa (February 20, 2025). "Khaled Sabsabi Will Not Be Reinstated as Australia's Venice Biennale Representative". ARTnews.com. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ The Installation Art Podcast: Bonus: Why This 2026 Venice Biennale Scandal Is Splitting the Art World – with Carrie Scott
- ^ "First Pavilions Announced for 2026 Venice Biennale". November 7, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "2026 Venice Biennale pavilions: your go-to list [updated]". ArtReview. November 26, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ "Dries Verhoeven selected as Dutch entry for the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia". Mondriaan Fund. August 4, 2025. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
