As the art world descends on Venice for the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the city transforms into a layered landscape of exhibitions, gatherings, and chance encounters unfolding across canals, courtyards, and historic palazzi. Curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, this year’s central exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” invites a more attuned way of looking—one that favors subtlety, atmosphere, and emotional resonance over spectacle.
Beyond the main presentation in the Giardini and Arsenale, the week extends into the city itself, where foundations, fashion houses, and private collections stage ambitious concurrent shows. From immersive installations and national pavilions to intimate dinners and historic cafés, Venice offers a rhythm all its own—best navigated with intention and a willingness to wander. Consider this your essential guide to what not to miss, where to go, and how to experience the Biennale at its most compelling.
61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
“In Minor Keys”
Giardini and Arsenale
Photo by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
At the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curator Koyo Kouoh introduces In Minor Keys, a conceptually rich and sensorially driven exhibition that rethinks the tempo and tone of the Biennale Arte 2026 itself. Moving away from spectacle and urgency, Kouoh proposes a quieter, more attuned experience—one that privileges listening, emotional resonance, and embodied engagement.
Drawing from the language of music, the “minor key” operates as both structure and metaphor. It signals a shift toward subtlety: the hum, the whisper, the improvisation. Rather than foregrounding grand narratives, the Exhibition gathers practices that operate in lower frequencies—those that sustain, repair, and connect. As Kouoh describes, these tonalities carry not only melancholy, but also joy, transcendence, and forms of collective care.
The Exhibition unfolds across the Giardini and Arsenale through a series of interwoven conceptual motifs rather than fixed sections. Among them are “Shrines,” honoring artists like Issa Samb and Beverly Buchanan; “processions,” which draw on collective movement and ritual; and “Schools,” highlighting artist-led ecosystems such as RAW Material Company and blaxTARLINES KUMASI. These frameworks emphasize relation, shared knowledge, and intergenerational dialogue over singular authorship.
Participating artists span geographies and generations, including Nick Cave, Ebony G. Patterson, Daniel Lind-Ramos, Alvaro Barrington, and Torkwase Dyson, among many others. Their works engage themes of spirituality, ecology, memory, and resistance, often through multisensory installations that invite viewers to slow down and inhabit space differently.
Designed in collaboration with Wolff Architects, the Exhibition’s scenography reinforces this ethos. Thresholds marked by sweeping indigo banners create moments of pause and transition, guiding visitors through a nonlinear journey of contemplation and discovery.
What we love: Ultimately, “In Minor Keys” positions the Biennale Arte 2026 not as an encyclopedic survey, but as a living, breathing composition—one that asks audiences to tune in, rather than look on.
Curator: Koyo Kouoh
Participants: 110 artists, collectives, and organizations
May 9–November 22, 2026
Preview Days: May 6—8, 2026
Italian Pavilion
Chiara Camoni: Con te con tutto
Curated by Cecilia Canziani
Installation view of Chiara Camoni’s “Colonne,” 2025, SpazioA, Pistoia, photo by Camilla Maria Santini.
At the Italian Pavilion, sponsored by Zegna, Chiara Camoni presents “Con te con tutto,” a project that invites reflection on how we exist in relation to others—human and nonhuman—through shared processes of making and living. Rooted in Camoni’s longstanding engagement with natural materials, the installation brings together botanical and mineral elements, textiles, and handcrafted forms that evolve through time and interaction. Drawing on themes of care, transformation, and collective knowledge, the work foregrounds dialogue between bodies, materials, and environments.
What we love: Shaped by an expanded notion of community, “Con te con tutto” positions art as a space of connection and reciprocity, where gestures accumulate and meaning emerges through collaboration, continuity, and attention to the rhythms of the natural world.
Chiara Camoni: Con te con tutto
May 9–November 22, 2026
French Pavilion
Yto Barrada: Comme Saturne
Curated by Myriam Ben Salah
Myriam Ben Salah and Yto Barrada, (c) Institut francais, photo by Benoit Peverelli.
At the French Pavilion, Yto Barrada presents “Comme Saturne,” an immersive installation that unfolds as a poetic meditation on time, memory, and transformation. Drawing on textiles, film, and archival gestures, the exhibition uses material processes as a language through which histories and cosmologies are reimagined. Structured as a sequence of interconnected environments, the pavilion explores the symbolic and mythological associations of Saturn—melancholy, repetition, and slow change—through layered spatial narratives. Techniques such as dévoré, in which fabric is partially dissolved, become metaphors for erosion, rupture, and renewal.
What we love: Moving between play and gravity, Barrada’s work invites reflection on instability as a condition of contemporary life, offering a nuanced exploration of how meaning is constructed through material, myth, and collective knowledge.
Yto Barrada: Comme Saturne
May 9–November 22, 2026
Fondazione Dries Van Noten
“The Only True Protest Is Beauty”
Palazzo Pisani Moretta, San Polo 2766, 30125 Venice
Installation view of Fondazione Dries Van Noten, photo by Matteo De Mayda.
Unfolding across the storied rooms of Palazzo Pisani Moretta, the inaugural presentation of the Fondazione Dries Van Noten positions beauty as both question and provocation. Curated by Dries Van Noten with Geert Bruloot, the presentation brings together more than 200 works spanning fashion, art, design, jewelry, and material experimentation, dissolving traditional boundaries between disciplines. Rather than a linear narrative, the presentation moves intuitively through a sequence of richly layered environments, where couture silhouettes, archival pieces, and contemporary works enter into dialogue with the palazzo’s ornate interiors. Moments of harmony are deliberately interrupted by unexpected juxtapositions, underscoring beauty’s capacity to unsettle as much as it delights.
What we love: Rooted in craftsmanship and the human act of making, the exhibition ultimately frames beauty as an active, even resistant force—one that invites deeper reflection in an increasingly complex world.
“The Only True Protest Is Beauty” at Fondazione Dries Van Noten
April 25 – October 4, 2026
Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia
Lu Yang: DOKU The Illusion
Calle del Ridotto, 1351, 30124 Venezia
Lu Yang, “Doku The Illusion,” 2026, Video installation, color, sound ©Lu Yang, courtesy of Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia.
Curated by Claire Staebler, “DOKU The Illusion” transforms the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia into a futuristic, chapel-like environment where digital identity and spirituality converge. At the center of the installation is Lu Yang’s latest film, the fourth chapter in the ongoing DOKU series, projected on a monumental LED screen and surrounded by sculptural elements. Drawing from Buddhist philosophy and contemporary visual culture—from anime to video games—Lu Yang constructs a hybrid universe in which the self is fluid, replicated, and reimagined. The avatar DOKU, modeled on the artist’s own face, navigates a surreal narrative that blends live-action footage with AI-generated imagery. Mirrored surfaces and immersive sound further integrate the viewer into the experience, collapsing distinctions between observer and participant.
What we love: Both meditative and disorienting, the exhibition reflects on illusion, reincarnation, and the evolving nature of consciousness in the digital age.
“Lu Yang: DOKU The Illusion” at Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia
May 8–October 4, 2026
Palazzo Diedo, Berggruen Arts & Culture
“Strange Rules”
Fondamenta Trapolin, 2386, 30121 Venezia
Fabien Giraud, “The Feral – Epoch 1,” 2025-2026, courtesy of the artist.
“Strange Rules” inaugurates Palazzo Diedo as a new site for interdisciplinary experimentation, introducing the concept of “Protocol Art.” Conceived by Mat Dryhurst, Holly Herndon, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, and curated in collaboration with Adriana Rispoli, the exhibition examines the invisible systems—algorithms, AI models, and digital infrastructures—that shape how culture is produced and perceived today. Rather than presenting discrete objects, the project unfolds as a living laboratory across the palazzo’s floors, where installations, performances, and research processes intersect. A major collaborative commission anchors the ground floor, while site-specific works above expand on themes of authorship, automation, and human-machine co-creation.
What we love: Bridging art, science, and technology, the exhibition positions itself at the forefront of contemporary discourse, asking how artistic practice can critically engage with—and reimagine—the coded structures that underpin our digital lives.
“Strange Rules” at Palazzo Diedo, Berggruen Arts & Culture
May 4—November 22, 2026
Pinault Collection — Palazzo Grassi
Michael Armitage: The Promise of Change
Campo San Samuele, 3231, 30124 Venice
Installation view, photo by Marco Cappelletti Studio.
Occupying the grand enfilade of Palazzo Grassi, Michael Armitage’s largest European exhibition to date brings together more than a decade of painting alongside an expansive selection of drawings. Known for his luminous, layered compositions on Lubugo bark cloth, Armitage draws from personal memory, East African histories, and global current events to construct scenes that feel both intimate and politically charged. Myth, migration, and social unrest intertwine across canvases that balance delicacy with urgency. Installed at a monumental scale, the works unfold as a fluid narrative, where figuration slips into abstraction and time feels suspended.
What we love: Anchored in Venice during the Biennale, the exhibition positions Armitage as a defining voice of his generation—one whose work resonates across geographies while remaining deeply rooted in place.
“Michael Armitage: The Promise of Change” at Pinault Collection — Palazzo Grassi
March 29, 2026—January 10, 2027
Pinault Collection — Punta della Dogana
Lorna Simpson: Third Person
Dorsoduro, 2, 30123 Venezia
Installation views, “Lorna Simpson. Third Person,” 2026, Punta della Dogana, Venezia, photo by James Wang © Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection.
At Punta della Dogana, supported exclusively by Bottega Veneta, Lorna Simpson presents a powerful suite of recent paintings and multimedia works that expand her decades-long investigation into identity, memory, and representation. Large-scale compositions, often featuring isolated female figures rendered in ink, acrylic, and collage, hover between clarity and ambiguity, resisting fixed narratives. Drawing on archival imagery from publications like Jet and Ebony, alongside found photographs and recurring motifs such as ice and natural elements, Simpson constructs layered visual fields where past and present converge. Text fragments and poetic associations deepen the emotional register, leaving space for what remains unsaid.
What we love: Installed within Tadao Ando’s stark architecture, the works take on an immersive quality, inviting viewers into a contemplative space where image, history, and perception continuously shift.
Lorna Simpson at Pinault Collection — Punta della Dogana
March 29—November 22, 2026
Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, Venice
Giudecca
Courtesy of Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel.
Hotel Cipriani offers 79 rooms and suites with 270-degree views across the water, spanning the Doge’s Palace to St. Giorgio and the islands beyond. Exquisite antiques and local artifacts evoke the past, while Michelin-starred dining and an Olympic-inspired pool offer modern sophistication.
Type: Luxury Five-Star Hotel.
Amenities: Marble bathroom, private balconies, tennis, outdoor pool, Technogym equipment, personal trainers, various Hotel activities.
In-House: Oro, Cip’s Club, Il Porticciolo, Bar Gabbiano, Il Bacaro Dior, San Giorgio, Casanova Wellness Spa.
Atmosphere: Luxurious and mesmerizing, with a refined, regal energy.
Book your stay HERE.
The Gritti Palace
San Marco
Courtesy of The Gritti Palace.
A place of art, elegance, and culinary refinement, The Gritti Palace brings history and culture into a renewed Venetian setting. Discreetly set on the Grand Canal, it offers immersive experiences like The Gritti Epicurean School and the Riva Yacht Experience for discerning guests.
Type: Luxury Five-Star Hotel.
Amenities: Marble bathroom, Acqua di Parma amenities, work station, turndown service, fitness suite.
In-House: Club del Doge Restaurant, Gritti Terrace, Bar Longhi, Riva Lounge, Gritti Epicurean School, The Gritti Spa-Sisley Paris.
Atmosphere: Luxurious and escapist, with refined antique furnishings.
Book your stay HERE.
Harry’s Bar
San Marco
Courtesy of Harry’s Bar.
Opened in 1931 by Giuseppe Cipriani and tucked at the end of an alleyway, Harry’s Bar is an iconic destination, designated a national landmark in 2001. Long frequented by royalty, creatives, and locals, it offers a classic menu in an intimate setting with a relaxed, social Venetian ambiance.
Cuisine: Italian.
Chef: In-house.
Must-Order: Calf’s Liver alla Veneziana.
Atmosphere: Old-school charm in a historic, intimate setting.
Book a Table HERE.
Le Cementine
Roncade Treviso
Courtesy of Le Cementine.
Le Cementine, a short ride from the Venice lagoon, offers a countryside escape from the city. Surrounded by gardens, orchards, and a working vegetable garden, it serves a refined “cucina di campagna” rooted in seasonality, simplicity, and respect for local ingredients.
Cuisine: Italian.
Chef: Max Alajmo and Roberto Ienna
Must-Order: A daily special written on the chalkboard.
Atmosphere: Buccolic and relaxed with a refined, elegant edge.
Book a Table HERE
