Biennale di Venezia opens new 8,000 sqm archive at Arsenale in 2026

The Historical Archive of the Biennale di Venezia (ASAC) will open a new 8,000-square-meter headquarters at the Arsenale in 2026. The move aims to transform the archive from a repository into a dynamic research and production hub. Meanwhile, the Biennale is running a traveling exhibition series titled "È il vento che fa il cielo" (It is the wind that makes the sky), marking the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's death. Curated by Luigia Lonardelli, the project retraces Polo's route through four international stops: Hangzhou (in collaboration with the China Academy of Art), Venice (with works by Gulnur Mukazhanova and Cevdet Erek), Istanbul (with the Amfibio Sound Days in partnership with the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, İKSV), and New Delhi (Interno Indiano at Bikaner House with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art). Future stops include Mongolia and another country. The archive's new role as the "seventh muse" of the Biennale, equal to art, architecture, cinema, dance, music, and theater, is enshrined in its statute. Debora Rossi, head of ASAC, explains that the archive now produces special projects and research, such as a geopolitical mapping of artists who participated in Biennales from 1999 to 2020, involving a pool of universities. The new space will include conservation areas, long-term residencies, and flexible project spaces. The opening is scheduled for early June 2026, with conferences, concerts, and performances.