Anayra Santory Jorge Reads Koyo Kouoh's Venice Biennale Through Caribbean Colonial Trauma

Key facts

• Koyo Kouoh is the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale in its 61-year history, presenting In Minor Keys with 110 artists across two venues and 100 national pavilions.
• Anayra Santory Jorge published the 38-minute chronicle-essay in Artishock Revista on September 15, 2026.
• By late 2025, Venice retained less than 30% of its 1563 peak population, with just under 48,000 residents hosting over 34 million tourists in 2025.
• The MOSE mobile flood barrier system has protected the Venice lagoon since 2020, though its use is limited by ecosystem needs and rising Mediterranean levels.
• Natalia Lassalle-Morillo's 40-minute three-channel video Retiro (2019) was made with her mother Gloria Morillo and is projected onto vertical lattice panels.
• The Lancet estimated 75,200 violent deaths in Gaza through December 2025, cited alongside Refaat Alareer's poem If I must die.
• The Art not Genocide Alliance organized a pro-Palestine march during the biennial's opening week.
• The Gaza No Words exhibition at Palazzo Mora, curated by the Palestine Museum US, features one hundred tatreez-embroidered panels.