La Biennale di Venezia

June 29, 2026June 28, 2026, by Eva Zanardi

The Biennale That Broke Itself

The 61st International Art Exhibition arrives in grief, political fury, and institutional crisis. It is one of the more galvanizing editions in recent memory.

The lagoon light still flatters everything it touches, but this year, Venice has the feel of a city that stayed up too late arguing. May 7, 2026 — the one morning of the press preview period spared by both rain and protest — was the kind of day Venice is famous for: blue sky and large cinematic cumuli drifting above the Queen of the Adriatic. Police stood watch outside the Israeli and Russian pavilions. The queues at the Giardini were long; those at the Arsenale were longer. In years of attending press previews, I have rarely encountered such a congested or physically demanding environment — the crowd, indistinguishable from a general-public opening, consumed by the compulsive and indiscriminate act of photographing everything in sight.

June 11, 2026June 10, 2026, by Michal Gavish

Voices In Minor Keys: 2026 Venice Biennale

In Minor Keys, the central exhibition of the 61st Venice Biennale, arrived with a quiet proposition. The late curator Koyo Kouho envisioned a show that reflects practices requiring time and sustained commitment — some of them lifetime, even generational — and in doing so created a deliberate antithesis to the Biennale spectacle. Drawing almost exclusively on artists from Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, the exhibition is anchored in political concerns — identity, immigration, the environment — yet so many of the works felt personal, while reaching toward art history and even toward Venice itself. What follows is an account of its visual depth and strength.

October 23, 2024December 22, 2024, by Etty Yaniv

Prejudice and Belonging – the Ethiopian Pavilion in La Biennale di Venezia

Tesfaye Urgessa, Pavilion of ETHIOPIA, Prejudice and belonging, 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Photo by: Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia

The first national Ethiopian pavilion at the 60^th Venice Biennale, housed in the elegant sixteenth-century Palazzo Bollani, may be challenging to find, but the effort is amply rewarded. In his solo exhibition Prejudice and Belonging, Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa presents figures that inhabit a broad and complex emotional spectrum where fragility and strength coexist. Ethiopian iconography and European modernist figurative painting converge, creating a striking visual dialect articulated throughout the ten large paintings and small portraits that fill the three interconnected rooms.

October 21, 2024December 6, 2024, by Etty Yaniv

kith and kin – the Australian Pavillion at La Biennale di Venezia

Photo Story

**Photo by Matteo de Mayda. Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia**

Archie Moore’s monumental installation, kith and kin, for the Australian pavilion at this year’s Venice Art Biennale, has been awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. It is a recognition well-earned. This multi-layered, profound installation more than fulfills the 60th Venice Art Biennale theme of “Foreigners Everywhere.” It does so with a poignancy, depth, and nuance that are increasingly rare in contemporary mega installations engaging with heavily charged subject matter, such as the history of Australian First Nations. kith and Kin confronts colonial legacies head-on while embracing humanity’s shared lineage. It serves as both a memorial to pain and loss and an understated reminder of our common ancestry.