61st Venice Biennale 'In Minor Keys' Explores Survival and Spirituality
The 61st Venice Biennale Arte, themed 'In Minor Keys' and overseen by curator Koyo Kouoh, commenced on June 26, 2026, at both the Arsenale and Central Pavilion. This exhibition showcases 110 artists, using minor tonalities as symbols of resilience. Highlights include Tabita Rezaire's 'Omo Elu' (2024), Ranti Bam's 'Ifa IIe Oja – Black Ifa' (2026), and an installation by Taus Makhacheva at the UAE Pavilion. Additional significant works are Florentina Holzinger's 'Seaworld Venice', Miet Warlop's 'IT NEVER SSST', Sohrab Hura's 'Things Felt But Not Quite Expressed' (2022-2024), and a video installation by Eric Baudelaire. The curatorial team features Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Siddhartha Mitter, Marie Helene Pereira, Rasha Salti, and Rory Tsapayi.
Key facts
- 61st Venice Biennale Arte titled 'In Minor Keys' curated by Koyo Kouoh
- Exhibition opened June 26, 2026 at Arsenale and Central Pavilion, Giardini
- Features 110 artists
- Koyo Kouoh died over a year before the opening
- Tabita Rezaire's 'Omo Elu' (2024) uses indigo-dyed cotton panels of Yemaya
- Ranti Bam's 'Ifa IIe Oja – Black Ifa' (2026) totemic sculptures
- Taus Makhacheva's installation at UAE Pavilion with 52 speakers playing apologies
- Florentina Holzinger's 'Seaworld Venice' at Austrian Pavilion includes human bell clapper and urine recycling
- Miet Warlop's 'IT NEVER SSST' at Belgian Pavilion features chalk words
- Sohrab Hura's pastel drawings 'Things Felt But Not Quite Expressed' (2022-2024)
- Mohammed Joha's 'No Shelter' (2025-ongoing) collage series
- Rose Salane's 'Person 61-91' (2019) with lost subway rings and DNA analysis
- Mays Albaik's 'Kūnī Kai Akūna Kamā Aqūl!' (2026) glass mouth casts
- Eric Baudelaire's video 'Death Passed My Way and Stuck This Flower in My Mouth' set in Aalsmeer flower auction
- Cauleen Smith's 'The Wanda Coleman Songbook' (2024) about poet Wanda Coleman
- Curatorial team: Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Siddhartha Mitter, Marie Helene Pereira, Rasha Salti, Rory Tsapayi
Entities
Artists
- Koyo Kouoh
- Tabita Rezaire
- Ranti Bam
- Taus Makhacheva
- Florentina Holzinger
- Miet Warlop
- Sohrab Hura
- Mohammed Joha
- Rose Salane
- Mays Albaik
- Eric Baudelaire
- Cauleen Smith
- Wanda Coleman
- Iosif Brodskij
- Maria Zambrano
- Luigi Pirandello
- Mahmoud Darwish
- Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo
- Siddhartha Mitter
- Marie Helene Pereira
- Rasha Salti
- Rory Tsapayi
- Caroline Dumalin
- Bana Kattan
- Nora-Swantje Almes
- Marcella Lista
- Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
- Toni Morrison
- Big Chief Demond Melanchon
- Tammy Nguyen
- Guadalupe Maravilla
- Ayrson Heráclito
- Michael Armitage
- Josephine Alacu
- Banadda Godfrey
- Peter Mulinda
- Adriano Pedrosa
- Shahidul Alam
- Godfried Donkor
- Nick Cave
- Wangechi Mutu
- Clarissa Herbst
- Dominique Rust
- Issa Samb
- Beverly Buchanan
- Marcel Duchamp
- Raed Yassin
- Andy Warhol
- Grace Jones
- Dante Alighieri
- Rafaat al-Areer
- Avi Mograbi
- Siddharta Mitter
- Rasha Salty
- Big Chief Demond Melancon
- Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka
- Maria Magdalena Campos Pons
- Kamaal Malak
- Sabian Baumann
- Hala Schoukair
- Annalee Davis
- Mohammed Z. Rahman
- Philip Aguirre Y Otegui
- Pauline Oliveros
- Dan Lie
- Alfredo Jaar
- Michael Joo
- Dawn Dedeux
- Khaled Sabsabi
- Carrie Schneider
- Chris Marker
- Theo Eshetu
- Werewere Liking
- Sawangwongse Yawnghwe
- Walid Raad
- John Letourneau
- kara lynch
- Jessica Rankin
- Beth Stryker
- Robin Vachal
- Paul Pfeiffer
- Julie Mehretu
- Koray Duman
- Sam Joseph Nitro
- Josephine Nitro
- Yinka Shonibare CBE RA
- Marco Scotini
- Caroline Corbetta
- Santa Nastro
- Otobong Nkanga
- Big Chief Demond
- Cecilia Vasquez Yui
- Vera Tamari
- Edouard Duval-Carrié
- BuBu de La Madeleine
- Yoshido Shimada
- Alice Maher
- Adebunmi Gbadebo
- Carsten Höller
- Kader Attia
- fierce pussy
- James Baldwin
- Florence Lazar
- Ayan Farah
- Sara Flores
- Nabil Nahas
- Lubaina Himid
- Magda Stawarska
- Oriol Vilanova
- Yto Barrada
- Chiara Camoni
- Alma Allen
- Bogna Burska
- Daniel Kotowski
- Amina Agueznay
- Malika Benmoumen
- Roger Payne
- Gottfried Semper
- Donald Trump
- JR
- Shim Moon-Seup
- Julian Charrière
- Klara Kristalova
- Hans Hartung
- Hernan Bas
- Paola Pivi
- Gelitin
- Monira Al Qadiri
- Adriana Varejão
- Rosana Paulino
- Abbas Akhavan
- Sung Tieu
- Andreas Angelidakis
- Torkwase Dyson
- Laurie Anderson
- Zoe Leonard
- Carolina Caycedo
- Marinella Senatore
- Melissa McGill
- David Reimondo
- Leandro Erlich
- Dana Awartani
- Isabel Nolan
- Ei Arakawa-Nash
- Nolan Oswald Dennis
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Helen Frankenthaler
- Mark Bradford
- Simone Leigh
- María Magdalena Campos-Pons
- Uriel Orlow
- Bonnie Devine
- Kaloki Nyamai
- Ebony G. Patterson
- Refaat Alareer
- Joana Hadjithomas
- Khalil Joreige
- Celia Vásquez Yui
- Seyni Awa Camara
- Belu-Simion Fainaru
- Hans Ulrich Obrist
- Brian Eno
- Patti Smith
- Meredith Monk
- Terry Riley
- Anish Kapoor
- Jan Fabre
- Marina Abramović
- Georg Baselitz
- Lorna Simpson
- Alvaro Barrington
- Godfried Donko
- Natalia Lassalle-Morillo
- Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn
- Wardha Shabbir
- Tintoretto
- Giorgione
- Titian
- Veronese
- Ulay
- Stefan Lochner
- Hildegard of Bingen
- Carlo Scarpa
- Elke Baselitz
- Jon Cuyson
- Jenna Sutela
- Arthur Jafa
- Richard Prince
- Kandis Williams
- Meriem Bennani
- Orian Barki
- Tai Shani
- Matt Copson
- Gabriel García Márquez
- Chiharu Shiota
- Simone Weil
- Zhanna Kadyrova
- Benjamin Orlow
- Tori Wrånes
- Sverre Fehn
- Caroline Absher
- Demond Melancon
- Kamui Olujimi
- Alexandra Kumiko Hatanaka
- Carrie Yamaoka
- Joy Episalla
- Galileo Chini
- Buhlebezwe Siwani
- Yoshiko Shimada
- Marcia Kure
- Lee Ufan
- Audre Lorde
- Shai Baitel
- Jim Jarmusch
- Laraaji
- Moor Mother
- FKA Twigs
- Precious Okoyomo
- Ben Vickers
- Arch Hades
- Jenny Saville
- Elisabetta Barisoni
- Lee Sharrock
- Berni-Searle
- Kemang Wa Lehulere
- Sumakshi Singh
- Daniel Lind-Ramos
- Henrike Naumann
- Pussy Riot
Institutions
- Venice Biennale
- Arsenale
- Giardini
- Central Pavilion
- Austrian Pavilion
- Belgian Pavilion
- UAE Pavilion
- Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)
- Aalsmeer flower auction
- Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute
- Artnet News
- Parfumerie
- Giardini della Biennale
- Denniston Hill
- Makerere University
- G.A.S. Guest Artist Foundation
- Kunsthaus Paradiso
- Artribune
- Biennale di Venezia
- exibart.com
- BAK
- Studio Labics
- Pace Gallery
- Sfeir-Semler Gallery
- Hollybush Gardens Gallery
- Zachęta National Gallery of Art
- Ministère de la Jeunesse, de la Culture et de la Communication du Maroc
- Connaissance des Arts
- Département d'Etat (US State Department)
- La Biennale di Venezia
- Perrotin
- Gagosian
- Hauser & Wirth
- Lehmann Maupin
- Victoria Miro
- Mendes Wood DM
- Olney Gleason
- Galleria Raffaella Cortese
- Massimo De Carlo
- Continua
- Lisson Gallery
- Goodman Gallery
- Galerie Lelong & Co.
- Lia Rumma
- Mazzoleni
- SpazioA
- Andrew Creps
- Emalin
- Isabella Bortolozzi
- Elba Benítez
- Àngels Barcelona
- Hollybush Gardens
- Green Naftali
- The Breeder
- Kurimanzutto
- Power Station of Art
- Chantal Crousel
- Art Basel
- Artnet
- New York Times
- Fondazione Querini Stampalia
- Ca' Pesaro
- Teatro Goldoni
- Fondazione Berengo
- Museo Correr
- Negozio Olivetti
- Palazzo Bragadin Carabba
- Ca' Faccanon
- The Venice Venice Hotel
- State Department
- US Pavilion
- Art Not Genocide Alliance (Anga)
- Pussy Riot
- Femen
- Beaux Arts Magazine
- INFERNO
- Scuola Grande di San Rocco
- Galleria Gaburro
- Fondation Linda et Guy Pieters
- Palazzo Manfrin
- Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
- Punta della Dogana
- Pinault Collection
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Fondazione Giorgio Cini
- Gallerie dell'Accademia
- FAI – Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano ETS
- Galleria Continua
- MORPHO
- KANAL-Centre Pompidou
- Dhaka Art Summit
- Gropius Bau
- Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery
- Wolff Architects
- Fondazione Prada
- Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation
- Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
- Fondazione Dries Van Noten
- Frame Contemporary Art Finland
- Abitare
- Biennale de Venise
- MoMA
- Tate Modern
- Creative Australia
- Rostec
- Fondation Biennale
- U.S. Department of State
- San Marco Art Centre
- Nairobi Contemporary Art Centre
- Makerere College
- Guest Artists Space
- fierce pussy
- Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia
- Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai
- Holy See Pavilion
- Dicastery for Culture and Education
- Soundwalk Collective
- British Pavilion
- Erarta Foundation
- International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca' Pesaro
- FAD Magazine
- Irish Pavilion
- Indian Pavilion
- German Pavilion
- Russian Pavilion
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Arsenale
- Giardini
- Austrian Pavilion
- Belgian Pavilion
- UAE Pavilion
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Aalsmeer
- Netherlands
- India
- Gaza
- Cape Town
- South Africa
- New Orleans
- United States
- Kuwait
- Zurich
- Switzerland
- Cameroon
- Israel
- Palestine
- Lebanon
- Iran
- Toronto
- Canada
- Matanzas
- Cuba
- Beirut
- Barbados
- Schoten
- Accra
- Ghana
- Riverside
- Chicago
- London
- United Kingdom
- San Salvador
- El Salvador
- Myanmar
- Chbanieh
- Kampala
- Uganda
- Tanzania
- Nigeria
- Europe
- Osaka
- Japan
- Ramallah
- Haiti
- Rohingya
- Rome
- Vietnam
- Liban
- Royaume-Uni
- Belgique
- Espagne
- France
- Autriche
- Italie
- États-Unis
- Pologne
- Royaume du Maroc
- Dakar
- Senegal
- Tombouctou
- Mali
- Casablanca
- Morocco
- Yule
- Colorado
- Washington
- Somalia
- Peru
- Basel
- Germany
- Spain
- Greece
- Brazil
- Africa
- Murano
- Via Garibaldi
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Belgium
- Poland
- Kenya
- South Carolina
- Jamaica
- Austria
- Vatican City
- Cannaregio
- Isola San Giorgio Maggiore
- Piazza San Marco
- San Geminiano
- Brussels
- Gateshead
- Naples
- China
- Finnish Pavilion
- Greek Pavilion
- Palazzo Nervi Scattolin
- Isola di San Giacomo
- Palazzo Pisani Moretta
- Philippines
- Finland
- Paris
- Tanger
- Amsterdam
- Utah
- Mexico
- Sydney
- Australia
- Pokrovsk
- Budapest
- Hungary
- Sweden
- Norway
- Madison Avenue
- Brooklyn
- Copenhagen
- Denmark
- Kingston
- Algeria
- Ireland
- Mexico City
- San Marco
- Gallerie dell'Accademia
- Giardino Mistico dei Carmelitani Scalzi
- Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice
- Castello
- British Pavilion
- Scoletta Battioro e Tiraoro di Venezia
- Grand Canal
- Ca' Pesaro
- Giardini della Biennale
- Arsenale di Venezia