| 61st Venice Biennale | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Art exhibition |
| Begins | 2026 |
| Ends | 2026 |
| Location(s) | 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.
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. [1]
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. [1] Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in the Venice Arsenale and palazzos throughout the city. [2]
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. [3] [4]
Countries began to announce their national representatives even before the previous exhibition closed in 2024. [5] Each country selects artists to show at their pavilion, ostensibly with an eye to the Biennale's theme. [1]
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selecting Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino to create a work for the Australia Pavilion in February 2025, rescinded their decision a week later, after News Corp news outlet The Australian raised concerns and the matter was raised in Parliament.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. [6] [7] [8]
| Nation | Location | Artist(s) | Curator(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Giardini | Abbas Akhavan | [9] | |
| The Netherlands | Giardini | Dries Verhoeven | Rieke Vos | [10] |
| Estonia | Around Venice | Merike Estna | [11] | |
| France | Giardini | Yto Barrada | [11] | |
| Luxembourg | Around Venice | Aline Bouvy | Stilbé Schroeder | [11] |
| Ireland | Around Venice | Isabel Nolan | Georgina Jackson | [11] |
| Switzerland | Giardini | Miriam Laura Leonardi, Yul Tomatala, Nina Wakeford | Gianmaria Andreetta, Luca Beeler | [11] |
| Taiwan | Around Venice | Li Yi-Fan | [11] |
