Nilbar Güreş Voices Exhaustion and Defiance for Turkey Pavilion at 2026 Venice Biennale

Nilbar Güreş, representing Turkey at the 61st Venice Biennale, has expressed deep fatigue with Western cultural expectations and the white, male-dominated art world. In an interview with ArtReview, she stated her exhibition, titled 'A Kiss on the Eyes,' stems from disgust and exhaustion rather than the Biennale's theme 'In Minor Keys.' Güreş criticized the silence of cultural institutions on the Palestine crisis, noting that artists speaking out face censorship and job loss. She emphasized that the production team is more important than the artist in large exhibitions. The Turkey Pavilion is located in the Arsenale. The Biennale runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026.