The 61st Venice Biennale is a global international contemporary art exhibition that is being held in 2026 with participants from 99 countries with public exhibitions days running from May 9 until November 22 with preview days started May 6.
The declared theme for the main curatorial exhibit as "In Minor Keys," which was selected by Koyo Kouoh, chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. However Kouoh died a year before the opening, leaving her collaborators to fill out her vision.
This edition of the Venice Biennale has been marred by several controversies, including the resignation of the jury days before the festival was scheduled to start, an initial jury announcement that it would not give awards to countries whose leaders were being indicted for war crimes, and the absence of the Italian minister of culture for the first time in the biennale's history.
Background 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.
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. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in the Venice Arsenale and palazzos throughout the city.
Central exhibition
Koyo Kouoh, chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, was selected to serve as the 61st Venice Biennale's artistic director but died in May 2025 from liver cancer only days after a diagnosis. Nonetheless, the festival, in conjunction with the family continued her theme of "In Minor Keys."
Ultimately there were 110 invited participants.
Controversies The decision of the Biennale's president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, to permit the participation of Russia, Israel and the United States has provoked protests from a broad spectrum of parties, including private individuals, government ministries and benefactors.
Participation of Israel
In excess of two hundred participants of the Venice Biennale affixed their signatures to a letter, organised by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA), which demanded the cancellation of the Israeli Pavilion.
The Israeli exhibition shall not be housed within the traditional pavilion situated in the principal grounds of the Biennale, known as the Giardini, but shall instead be installed in the Arsenale section.
After the jury announced it would not award prizes to artists from countries whose leaders were being tried for war crimes, Israel's foreign ministry released a statement saying that excluding Israeli artists had "transformed the Biennale from an open artistic space of free, boundless ideas into a spectacle of false, anti-Israeli political indoctrination".
Participation of Russia
After being absent from the 2022 and 2024 editions of the Venice Biennale following the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Pavilion was accepted for the 2026 edition with an exhibit titled "The Tree is Rooted in the Sky". Its inclusion came despite the objections of the Italian minister of culture, who vowed to boycott the opening ceremonies, a protest unprecedented in the Biennale's history. The European Commission condemned Russia's participation and threatened to withdraw a $2 million grant for the event; however, the decision had not been reversed by 11 May.
Russia subsequently announced that its pavilion would not be open to the public during the exhibition, although the media would be permitted to visit during the preview days. The work, which comprises floral pieces, remained visible through the building's windows.
Participation of the United States
The United States employed an atypical selection process for its pavilion. Officials at the State Department abandoned the decades-long practice of using an independent review panel to choose the artist, instead appointing a commissioner, Jenni Parido, who had no museum experience but ran a pet food company. Officials then struggled to find an artist willing to represent the country, with at least two rejecting the offer, partly on account of the financial risk. The curator, Jeffrey Uslip, ultimately selected Alma Allen, a U.S.-born artist resident in Mexico. Two of his galleries subsequently withdrew from international representation.
The United States was also criticised by Anish Kapoor for its "abhorrent politics of hate" and "incessant warmongering".
Participation of South Africa South Africa withdrew its participation after the country's minister of culture cancelled Elegy, a video installation by Gabrielle Goliath that mourns the victims of Israel's attack on Gaza, as the South African pavilion's selection for the forthcoming 61st Venice Biennale.
The work was instead relocated to the Chiesa di Sant'Antonin in Castello, a historic church dating back to the seventh century.
Resignation of the Jury
On 30 April 2026, it was announced that all jurors of the Biennale had decided to resign their positions. The jury comprised five members, led by the Brazilian . The other members were Zoe Butt (Australia), Elvira Dyangani Ose (Spain), Marta Kuzma (US) and Giovanna Zapperi (Italy). Although no country was named explicitly, all five jurors declared their reluctance to honour artists from countries whose leadership is subject to investigation by the International Criminal Court. This would have applied to Russia and Israel; arrest warrants have been issued against Putin (since 2023) and Netanyahu (since 2024).The Kyiv Independent: Venice Art Biennale's jury resigns in protest over Russian, Israeli presence just days before festival starts, 30 April 2026
In response, the Israeli artist Belu-Simion Fainaru, representing the Israeli Pavilion at the 2026 Biennale, sent a formal warning citing "racial discrimination" and "anti-Semitism", and indicated the possibility of an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The Foundation's legal team also stated that the jurors themselves could be held personally liable for any damages arising from a dispute.https://www.adnkronos.com/cultura/biennale-arte-ecco-perche-la-giuria-internazionale-si-e-dimessa-la-ricostruzione_18EyYsdJ8cU1mjbVXQGcwV
As the Biennale now lacks a jury, the award ceremony was postponed from the opening to the close of the festival, and it remained unclear whether awards would be distributed. In their place, two "Leoni dei Visitatori" (Visitors' Lions), a gold and a silver, are to be awarded by visitors to the exhibitions.ORF: Jury tritt aus Protest geschlossen zurück, 1 May 2026 Consequently, the awards ceremony scheduled for 9 May 2026 was postponed to 22 November 2026.
Australian pavilion In February 2025, Australia selected Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino to create a work for the Australia Pavilion, only to rescind the decision a week later after the News Corp outlet The Australian raised concerns and the matter was brought before Parliament. The reversal prompted outrage within the artistic community and led to resignations from the board of the commissioning body, Creative Australia; the five other shortlisted artistic teams declared that they would not permit their work to be shown. A senator described the affair as an "international embarrassment", while the artist stated that he could no longer sleep, had suffered nightmares, and was deeply traumatised. A crowdfunding campaign and a "plea for help" to support an independent participation by the artist were subsequently launched. Several members of staff and the board resigned, the outrage among artists prompted calls for further resignations, and a letter from staff members condemned a "culture of fear, discrimination and mismanagement".The Installation Art Podcast: Bonus: Why This 2026 Venice Biennale Scandal Is Splitting the Art World – with Carrie Scott Following an independent review and significant public pressure, the decision was reversed in July 2025. Creative Australia apologised to Sabsabi, and he was officially reinstated as the Australian representative for 2026.
May 8 artist strike A number of pavilions closed on Friday, 8 May, as artists staged a strike in protest against Israel's participation. Those affected included the pavilions of Austria, Japan, South Korea, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Egypt, among others.
European Commission Funding After an query into the opening of the Russian pavilion, Kaja Kallas announced on 13 July 2026 that the European Commission had halted funding to the Venice Biennale.
National pavilions Countries began to announce their national representatives even before the previous exhibition closed in 2024. Each country selects artists to show at their pavilion, ostensibly with an eye to the Biennale's theme.
Countries who had official national pavilions for the first time at the 61st Biennale included Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Sierra Leone, Federal Republic of Somalia, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Separately, El Salvador participated for the first time with its own dedicated pavilion.https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2026/congo-democratic-republic