Lavar Munroe and John Beadle Represent Bahamas at 2026 Venice Biennale
Lavar Munroe and John Beadle will represent the Bahamas at the 61st Venice Biennale, set to take place from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the San Trovaso Art Space. Munroe will showcase three bodies of work exploring themes of ritual, ancestry, spirituality, and communion, including a piece derived from three years of research on the Shona ceremony Kurova Guva in Zimbabwe. His eleven-panel painting, "No Matter How Dreary and Gray...," honors John Beadle, while "However Long the Night, the Dawn Will Break" incorporates Junkanoo costumes from recent parades. The Bahamas has a strong artistic presence, noted for its high concentration of working artist studios.
Key facts
- Lavar Munroe and John Beadle represent the Bahamas at the 61st Venice Biennale.
- The Biennale runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026.
- The Bahamas pavilion is at San Trovaso Art Space.
- Munroe presents three bodies of work on ritual, ancestry, spirituality, and communion.
- One work is based on three years of research in Zimbabwe on the Shona ceremony Kurova Guva.
- 'No Matter How Dreary and Gray...' is an eleven-panel painting dedicated to John Beadle.
- 'However Long the Night, the Dawn Will Break' repurposes Junkanoo costumes from 2025-2026 parades.
- Munroe previously participated in the 2015 Biennale curated by Okwui Enwezor.
- Tavares Strachan initiated the Bahamas' first national pavilion in 2013.
- The Bahamas has one of the highest concentrations of working artist studios per capita.
Entities
Artists
- Lavar Munroe
- John Beadle
- Tavares Strachan
- Okwui Enwezor
- Sadie Curtis
- Cynthia Hanna
- Roy Cox
- Koyo Kouoh
- Dr. Krista Thompson
Institutions
- ArtReview
- Versace
- One Family Junkanoo Organization
- D’Aguilar Art Foundation
- The Bahamas Pavilion
- National Gallery of The Bahamas
- Tern
- San Trovaso Art Space
- Volta art fair
- The Art Newspaper
- Venice Biennale
Locations
- Bahamas
- Venice
- Italy
- Zimbabwe
- Nassau
- San Trovaso Art Space
- Baltimore
- United States
- The Bahamas
- Grants Town
- Dorsoduro