Artist Ali Eyal Stages Unofficial Iraqi Pavilion at Venice, California Gas Station

On May 29, 2026, artist Ali Eyal staged a one-day pop-up installation titled "Welcome to Iraq" at a Chevron gas station on Venice Boulevard in Venice, California, as an unofficial Iraqi Pavilion for the 61st Venice Biennale. Curated by fellow artist David Horvitz, who created a faux press release with a blurred Biennale logo, the installation featured Eyal posing as a black-market petrol salesman. On an old television set, he painted "We have oil here" in Arabic calligraphy, with four ochre jugs showing diminishing levels of "gas" turning into a red sunset. Eyal sold pocket-sized oil pastel drawings of candles in bottles, referencing his family's reliance on candlelight during power outages in Baghdad. Iraq has not had an official pavilion at the Venice Biennale since 2019, when the Ruya Foundation presented Serwan Baran. Eyal, now based in Los Angeles, grew up in Baghdad during the US occupation and under sanctions, where fuel was scarce and obtained through illicit networks. The work addressed themes of national identity, resource extraction, and the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with tragic resonance to US and Israeli attacks on Iran and resulting fuel shortages globally, notably in Cuba. Chevron employees asked Eyal to move to the edge of the property, placing the installation beneath a sign advertising gasoline at $6–$7 per gallon. The project was a darkly comic rejoinder to both the Biennale's nationalistic displays and global oil infrastructure.