61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia

Already announced participations from countries and institutions:
 Pavilions - preliminary list

The 61^st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia will take place from Saturday, May 9^th to Sunday, November 22^nd, 2026 (pre-opening on May 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th) at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and various locations across the city.

The President of La Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, and the Curator of the 61^st Exhibition, Koyo Kouoh (appointed last December 2024), will announce the title and theme during a press conference to be held in Venice on Tuesday, May 20^th, 2025.

The Biennale Arte 2026 will feature National Participations with their own exhibitions in the Pavilions at the Giardini and the Arsenale, as well as in Venice’s historic center. This edition will also include a selection of Collateral Events, proposed by international institutions and organizations, which will present their exhibitions and initiatives throughout the city.

The President of La Biennale di Venezia, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, and the Board of Directors have announced the appointment of Koyo Kouoh as Director of the Visual Arts Department, with the specific task of curating the 61st International Art Exhibition.

President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco stated: “The appointment of Koyo Kouoh as the director of the Visual Arts Sector is the acknowledgment of a broad horizon of vision at the dawn of a day profuse with new words and eyes. Her perspective as a curator, scholar, and influential public figure meets with the most refined, young, and disruptive intelligences. With her here in Venice, La Biennale confirms what it has offered the world for over a century: to be the home of the future.”

Koyo Kouoh commented: “The International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia has been the center of gravity for art for over a century. Artists, art and museum professionals, collectors, dealers, philanthropists and an ever-growing public converge on this mythical site every two years to feel the pulse of the Zeitgeist. It is a once-in-a-lifetime honor and privilege to follow in the footsteps of luminary predecessors in the role of Artistic Director, and to compose an exhibition that I hope will carry meaning for the world we currently live in — and most importantly, for the world we want to make. Artists are the visionaries and social scientists who allow us to reflect and project in ways afforded only to this line of work. I am deeply thankful to La Biennale’s Board and particularly its President, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, for entrusting me with this momentous mission, and I look forward to working with the entire team”.