Bana Kattan Appointed Curator of UAE Pavilion for 2026 Venice Biennale

The UAE Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, scheduled from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the Arsenale, will be curated by Bana Kattan. Announced on September 29, Kattan is currently the associate head of exhibitions at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Previously, she held positions as a curator at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery and as an associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where she organized solo exhibitions for artists such as Wafaa Bilal, Maryam Taghavi, and Mona Hatoum. The pavilion is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, with backing from the UAE Ministry of Culture. Kattan aims to highlight the UAE's artistic scene through her collaboration with multigenerational Arab artists, addressing sociopolitical themes and encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue.