Extinction / Salvation – Venice Design Biennial, 5th Edition

The theme of the new edition of the Venice Design Biennial, curated by Luca Berta and Francesca Giubilei, is “Extinction / Salvation”.
The 5th edition examines contemporary design through opposing lenses of doom and hope. Design faces the paradox of rejecting mass production while remaining tied to objects’ meaning. It cannot fully align with either extreme but can challenge extractive systems and seek personal, if limited, salvation. The Venice Design Biennial encourages fluid thinking, shifting perspectives, and rewriting survival strategies. It asks whether “less, but better” is our only path or if new, non-Western perspectives await discovery.