Oriol Villanova to Represent Spain at 2026 Venice Biennale with Postcard Installation

Oriol Villanova, the first artist born after Franco's death to represent Spain at the Venice Biennale, will present 'Los restos' at the Spanish Pavilion in 2026. Curated by Carles Guerra, the project features 50,000 postcards installed across six galleries, covering walls from floor to ceiling. Villanova has collected over 250,000 postcards from flea markets in Barcelona and Brussels over 20 years, organizing them into 200 categories. The installation includes a performance where a performer silently shows a postcard to passersby, inspired by a Buñuel film. A 700-page publication compresses the 50,000 postcards. Guerra describes Villanova's practice as using the market as a medium, akin to painting or sculpture. Villanova also writes theatrical texts; his play 'Ellos no pueden morir' featured Walt Disney, Salvador Dalí, and Vladimir Lenin, staged at Virreina Centre de la Imatge in 2010. The project reflects on cultural remnants and the politics of collecting. Guerra criticized the exclusion of Spain and Italy from the main exhibition, citing historical colonial biases, and condemned the inclusion of Israel's pavilion amid geopolitical tensions. He linked Villanova's work to broader themes of war and destruction, referencing the recent death of Lebanese poet Khatun Salma Kershet in a Beirut bombing.