Biennale Disappointments: Diapers, Seagulls, and Self-Important Performers

A critical roundup of the most frustrating experiences at the Venice Biennale. The Japanese Pavilion features 200 baby dolls that visitors carry upstairs for a diaper change, revealing a barcode poem—a project by new parent Ei Arakawa-Nash about care and global birth decline. A female critic dismisses it as male self-indulgence. The main exhibition 'In Minor Keys' underwhelms with its fragmented, cacophonous display, though discoveries like Beverly Buchanan's works stand out. Long queues plague the German and Austrian Pavilions, causing visitors to miss performances. Along the Viale Giuseppe Garibaldi, self-proclaimed performance artists compete for attention with toilet seats and placards, annoying the professional audience. Wealthy US collectors and museum donors are described as loud and self-important, yet financially indispensable. Seagulls steal pizza from unsuspecting visitors; one nests near the Romanian Pavilion, protected by a small wooden barrier. Marina Abramović's 'Transforming Energy' at the Gallerie dell'Accademia invites visitors to absorb healing vibrations from stones and crystals, wearing soundproof headphones.