Three Italian candidates emerge for 2026 Venice Biennale director

As the 2024 Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa and titled 'Stranieri Ovunque,' closes on November 24, 2024, speculation mounts over who will direct the 2026 edition. Rumors point to three Italian candidates: Vincenzo de Bellis, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, and Arturo Galansino. De Bellis, born in Castellana Grotte in 1977, founded Peep-Hole in Milan, directed miart from 2012 to 2016, and is currently director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms at Art Basel. Christov-Bakargiev, born in the US in 1957, curated the 2008 Sydney Biennale, documenta 13 in 2012, and the 2015 Istanbul Biennial; she directed Castello di Rivoli from 2001 to 2023 and recently curated an Arte Povera show at Bourse de Commerce. Galansino, director general of Florence's Palazzo Strozzi since 2015, has held roles at the Louvre, National Gallery, and Royal Academy of Arts. The appointment will be influenced by the presidency of writer and journalist Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, with some sources suggesting a non-Italian director is also possible. The new director must secure public-private funding for the large-scale event.