The Venice Art Biennale, held every two years and often called the “Olympics of the art world,” insists on art’s autonomy from politics. Yet as a state-supported international forum organized around national pavilions, the event repeatedly collides with geopolitical conflicts and public controversy.
A posthumous main exhibition by Koyo Kouoh
The 2026 Biennale runs from May 9 to November 22 and includes 100 national participations, with seven countries making their debuts: Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Nauru, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Vietnam. The main international exhibition, titled “In Minor Keys,” was developed by Cameroonian-born curator Koyo Kouoh, who died of cancer in May 2025 at 57. Kouoh — the first African woman to be appointed curator of the Biennale’s central show — had completed the project before her death and organizers elected to present it posthumously. The exhibition features 111 invited participants and foregrounds marginal or overlooked voices. In her curatorial statement, Kouoh described the project as a “restorative form of resistance” that privileges quieter registers and attentive listening amid global turmoil.
EU threatens to withdraw funding over Russia’s return
Russia’s reappearance at the Biennale in 2026 — after many Russian artists withdrew following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine — has sparked intense debate. The European Commission issued a formal warning to the Biennale presidency, urging reconsideration of Russia’s participation and threatening to withhold €2 million in funding. Italy’s political class is split: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government opposes Russia’s presence, while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini denounced the EU’s warning as “vulgar blackmail” against an important cultural institution. Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro cautioned that the Russian pavilion should be shut if it becomes a vehicle for propaganda, but he also argued the Biennale should remain a space for dialogue. Biennale Foundation president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco defended keeping doors open to all, saying, “I close to no one.”
The Russian pavilion’s commissioner, Anastasia Karneeva, is the daughter of Nikolai Volobuev, a former FSB general who is now deputy CEO of state defense firm Rostec. Activists have mobilized against Russia’s show: Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova criticized the pavilion as an attempt to “polish Russia’s image,” urged the Italian government to replace official representatives with works by Russian political prisoners, and said the feminist collective plans a protest performance in Venice.
South Africa’s pavilion left empty after dispute over work
South African artist Gabrielle Goliath had been chosen to represent her country with a performance that included a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023. South Africa’s culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, asked for edits to the piece, calling it “highly divisive.” Goliath refused to modify her work and the government declined to nominate a replacement; the national pavilion will therefore remain empty. A video-installation version of the piece will be shown at a non-Biennale venue in Venice, and Goliath has initiated legal action against the culture minister.
Australia revokes then reinstates its artist
Australia initially withdrew the commission for artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino after right-wing politicians accused Sabsabi — born in Lebanon and brought to Australia at age 12 — of expressing antisemitic views. Sabsabi’s practice frequently addresses civil war trauma, Arab immigrant identity and Islamophobia. Following public outcry, threats of boycotts, several resignations and an independent external review, the Australian authorities reversed the withdrawal and reinstated the artist and curator.
Campaigns to exclude Israel, and broader boycott debates
Close to 200 artists, curators and participants organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance called for Israel to be barred from the 2026 Biennale. A separate letter signed by more than 70 participants in the main exhibition urged banning not only Israel but all “current regimes committing war crimes,” naming Russia and the US as examples. The debate is intensified by Israel’s placement in the Arsenale — rather than the usual Giardini — because its national pavilion in the Giardini is undergoing renovation. Romanian-born, Haifa-based sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru has announced he will participate, rejecting cultural boycotts and arguing for dialogue.
At the 2024 Biennale, Israeli artist Ruth Patir closed the national pavilion until a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages were secured. There has never been a Palestinian national pavilion at Venice, since only states officially recognized by Italy may take part; during the Biennale a side exhibition titled “Gaza — No Words” will run in Venice city venues.
Germany’s pavilion and other notable national shows
Germany’s national exhibition, titled “Ruin,” draws on research into the former GDR and the aftermath of reunification after 1990. Installation artist Henrike Naumann, who died of cancer in February at 41, completed her contribution before her death; the German presentation will also include work by Vietnamese-born Berlin artist Sung Tieu.
Vatican commissions sonic works inspired by Hildegard
The Vatican’s pavilion, “The Ear is the Eye of the Soul,” commissions a series of sonic works inspired by 12th-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen. The program brings together 24 artists, among them Brian Eno, Patti Smith and FKA Twigs, to create compositions that explore listening as a spiritual and aesthetic practice.
The 2026 Biennale thus arrives amid a swirl of political disputes, artist withdrawals, protests and high-profile posthumous presentations — a reminder that international art festivals remain deeply entangled with the global conflicts and debates they often claim to rise above.
Edited by: Sarah Hucal