Venice, One Last Look: What to See Before the Biennale Closes
The 61st Venice Biennale, In Minor Keys, has been an unusual edition. Conceived by Koyo Kouoh, who died unexpectedly in May 2025, it opened under the shadow of her absence. The controversies surrounding the participation of Russia and Israel subsequently dominated much of the international debate, often overshadowing the exhibition itself. Yet Venice also demonstrated its capacity to remain an open, international platform for artistic expression. While national pavilions inevitably reflect the political structures of the countries they represent, the artistic community asserted its own voice, notably through demonstrations of solidarity with Palestine. The cancellation of Gabrielle Goliath’s Elegy from the South African Pavilion, followed by its independent presentation at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, became one of the clearest examples of the tensions between national representation and artistic freedom. The Biennale remained a space for both artistic exchange and political engagement.
With the exhibition closing on 22 November, these final weeks offer an opportunity to return to Kouoh’s curatorial vision and, above all, to the artists and their works. Beyond the Biennale itself, Venice is still hosting an exceptional programme of exhibitions across its museums, foundations and galleries. Here is a personal selection of what not to miss.
Giardini
The Austrian Pavilion, featuring Florentina Holzinger’s Seaward Venice, is among the most radical projects of this edition. Through performance, technology and physical endurance, Holzinger explores the body as a site of political and ecological tension, drawing Venice into a provocative reflection on spectacle, consumption and environmental vulnerability. The Greek Pavilion presents Escape Room by Andreas Angelidakis, transforming the pavilion into a contemporary ‘Platonic Cave’: the artist examines the construction of national identity, the manipulation of historical narratives and the unstable boundaries between truth and fiction. An especially pertinent reflection on the ideological foundations of the national pavilion itself. At the Danish Pavilion, Maja Malou Lyse presents Things to Come, curated by Chus Martínez. Moving between science fiction, pornography and reproductive technologies, the artist explores the relationship between images, sexuality and the future of human reproduction. An irreverent and provocative investigation into the increasingly blurred boundaries between digital culture and biological life. At the German Pavilion, Sung Tieu and Henrike Naumann investigate the relationship between architecture, ideology and historical memory, exposing the political structures embedded in seemingly ordinary environments. Particularly memorable is the Spanish Pavilion, where Oriol Vilanova presents Los restos, curated by Carles Guerra. Thousands of postcards collected over two decades form an extraordinary visual archive, transforming forgotten images into a reflection on memory, accumulation and the circulation of representations.
Arsenale
The Italian Pavilion, entrusted to Chiara Camoni, offers a poetic exploration of material, nature and collective processes. Through sculpture and craft, Camoni proposes an artistic language rooted in transformation, shared knowledge and the rhythms of everyday life. The Indian Pavilion, Geographies of Distance: Remembering Home, curated by Amin Jaffer, brings together five artists – Alwar Balasubramaniam, Sumakshi Singh, Ranjani Shettar, Asim Waqif and Skarma Sonam Tashi – whose practices explore the notions of home, memory and belonging. Through sculpture, installation and material experimentation, the exhibition reflects on the relationship between place and identity, drawing on traditional craftsmanship and contemporary artistic languages. Rather than defining home as a fixed geographical location, the pavilion approaches it as an evolving space shaped by personal histories, cultural memory and the experience of displacement. The Slovenian Pavilion, Soundtrack for an Invisible House, curated by Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, presents a project by Nonument Group exploring the forgotten history of a mosque built in 1917 for Bosnian Muslim soldiers on the Isonzo Front. Using architectural fragments, recycled materials and a haunting soundscape, the installation reconstructs the memory of a building erased from the landscape.
National Pavilions Across the City
In Castello, the Estonian Pavilion presents Merike Estna’s The House of Leaking Sky, curated by Natalia Sielewicz. Installed in a former church, the exhibition approaches painting as an evolving process, connecting artistic practice with domestic labour, care and the passage of time. The Somali Pavilion, participating for the first time in the Venice Biennale, presents Saddexleey, curated by Mohamed Mire and Fabio Scrivanti. Bringing together three women – Ayan Farah, Asmaa Jama and Warsan Shire – the exhibition draws on Somalia’s rich oral and poetic traditions, translating language into a spatial experience through textiles, film and poetry. Across the three floors of Palazzo Caboto, the artists explore memory, displacement and belonging in an exploration of language, displacement and cultural memory. The Holy See Pavilion, The Ear Is the Eye of the Soul, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers, unfolds across two locations: the Giardino Mistico dei Carmelitani Scalzi, a secluded monastic garden in Cannaregio, and the Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Castello. Inspired by Hildegard of Bingen, the project brings together sound, spirituality and contemplation, inviting visitors to rediscover the act of listening in one of Venice’s most unexpected settings.
Beyond the Biennale
Among the exhibitions across the city, Canicula, presented by Fondazione In Between Art Film at the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto, stands out as one of the most accomplished projects of the season. Curated by Alessandro Rabottini and Leonardo Bigazzi, it concludes the foundation’s Trilogy of Uncertainties, following Penumbra (2022) and Nebula (2024). Eight newly commissioned video installations explore the anxieties of our time through the metaphor of extreme heat and blinding light. With contributions by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti, Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk, Janis Rafa, P. Staff, Wang Tuo, Yuyan Wang and Maya Watanabe, the exhibition transforms the historic Ospedaletto into an immersive cinematic architecture. A remarkably coherent encounter between moving images, contemporary urgency and exhibition design.
At Fondazione Prada, Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince, curated by Nancy Spector, brings together two artists whose practices examine the power of images within American culture, from racial identity and popular mythology to violence and desire.
In Dorsoduro, the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation presents 5 Works, a solo exhibition by Lydia Ourahmane curated by Polly Staple. Developed during the artist’s residency in Venice, the new commissions were produced with local craftspeople, technicians and associations, and reflect on displacement, community and the invisible barriers that govern the movement of people and objects.
At Palazzo Grassi, The Promise of Change presents Michael Armitage, the Kenyan-British artist and one of the most compelling voices in contemporary painting. Combining East African political realities, mythology and art history, Armitage creates richly layered, visionary compositions on traditional bark cloth, developing a distinctive pictorial language that moves between beauty, violence and social commentary.
At the Museo Correr, Julian Charrière’s Spiral Economy: Charrière and Canova establishes a dialogue between contemporary ecological concerns and the legacy of Antonio Canova, questioning our relationship with natural resources and the environment.
Erwin Wurm presents Dreamers at Museo Fortuny transforms familiar objects and gestures into absurd, often unsettling situations, challenging the boundaries between sculpture, the body and everyday life.
At Palazzo Grimani, Amoako Boafo presents It Doesn’t Have to Always Make Sense and brings contemporary portraiture into dialogue with the palazzo’s historic interiors, questioning conventions of representation and the European art-historical canon.
At Palazzo Franchetti, Turandot: To the Daughters of the East, curated by Ziba Ardalan, brings together eleven women artists from Central Asia and neighbouring regions, including Mona Hatoum, Huma Bhabha, Saodat Ismailova and Tala Madani. Taking the legendary figure of Turandot as its starting point, the exhibition revisits questions of cultural identity, female agency and the historical construction of the East.
Galleries, Independent Spaces and Emerging Artists
Among the galleries worth visiting in Venice, Galleria Alberta Pane presents The Materiality of Judy Chicago, curated by Allison Raddock. The exhibition revisits six decades of the artist’s pioneering feminist practice, focusing on her experimentation with materials and techniques historically associated with craft and domestic labour. At Beatrice Burati Anderson, Giovanni Ozzola presents Albedo, exploring light, perception and the relationship between interior and exterior space, continuing the artist’s investigation of photography, painting and the experience of looking.
On the Giudecca, Dora Fiammetta Perini, with her project Ca’ Dora transforms the artist’s own home into a living installation. Wrapped in white fabric and metal staples, the domestic space becomes an extension of the body, dissolving the boundaries between sculpture, architecture and everyday existence. Perrini is also presenting TROPPA at SPARC* Spazio Arte Contemporanea. Finally, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa presents Da cosa nasce cosa, curated by Camilla Mozzato, across its two venues: Palazzetto Tito in Dorsoduro and the Galleria in Piazza San Marco. Featuring artists from its 2025-2026 Atelier programme, the exhibition offers a perspective on a younger generation of artistic practices and reminds us of the importance of Venice as a place of production, not merely exhibition.
As In Minor Keys approaches its conclusion, Koyo Kouoh’s vision remains an invitation to look beyond established narratives, to listen to quieter voices and to imagine other ways of inhabiting the world. The controversies will remain part of this Biennale’s history, but so will the artists, their works and the questions they leave behind. Until 22 November, Venice offers one last opportunity to discover them, to be surprised, moved and inspired by the extraordinary vitality of contemporary art.
Photo credits
1. View of PUSSY RIOT protesting outside the Russia Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, 2026. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
2. People march in Venice during the Biennale strike for Palestine and workers’ rights on May 8, 2026. Photo credits Hrag Vartanian for Hyperallergic
3. Austrian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Photo credits Marianna Wytyczak
4. “Oriol Vilanova: Los Restos”, Pavilion of Spain at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Photo credits Roberto Ruiz
5. “Chiara Camoni: With you with everything”, Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2026
6. Sumakshi Singh, “Permanent Address”, 2026. Installation view, National Pavilion of India, 61st Venice Biennale, 2026. Photo credits Joe Habben
7. Estonian Pavilion, “Merike Estna: The House of Leaking Sky”. Photo credits Maxim Dosca
8. Installation view of The Holy See Pavilion, part of the 2026 Venice Biennale. Photo credits David Levene
9. Yuyan Wang, “Boring Billion”, 2026, installation view. Photo credits Marco Cappelletti Studio
10. Fondazione Prada, “Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince”
11. “Dora Fiammetta Perini: Ca’ Dora”, Installation view
12. “Giovanni Ozzola: ALBEDO. You see me in the twilight”, installation view. Courtesy of Beatrice Burati Anderson Gallery
