Lithuania Wins Golden Lion at Venice Biennale with Sun & Sea

Lithuania secured the Golden Lion for best national participation at the Venice Biennale with the work Sun & Sea, a hybrid opera-installation-performance by artists Lina Lapelyte, Vaiva Grainyte, and Rugile Barzdziukaite. The piece transformed the Lithuanian pavilion at the Marina Militare into an artificial beach, critiquing contemporary leisure and environmental pressure. The jury praised its inventive use of the site, while the artists drew parallels between human and planetary fragility. The award ceremony on Saturday also presented a special mention to the Belgian pavilion for offering an alternative vision of underrecognized social relations in Europe. American artist Arthur Jafa received the Golden Lion for best participation in the main exhibition for his film The White Album, which addresses racism and prejudice. This edition of the biennial was noted for achieving near gender parity in its main exhibition.