arts
What not to miss at the 2026 Venice Biennale
Barenaked bell ringers, banned opera singers and mind-boggling dog-owner relationships … the art at this year’s biennale has people calling the cops
TL;DR
- Florentina Holzinger's performance in the Austrian pavilion featured nudity, suspended bodies, and audience participation, drawing police attention.
- Sanya Kantarovsky's paintings are displayed in historical spaces, creating an eerie atmosphere.
- Gabrielle Goliath's banned tribute to a Palestinian poet was shown outside the main event, featuring operatically trained singers.
- Carrie Schneider's 1.5km-long photographic curls are a standout in the In Minor Keys show.
- Lydia Ourahmane's installations utilize Venice's resources and community, including a pier for a local cooperative and a bead curtain made by prison inmates.
- Lawrence Abu Hamdan's installation investigates alleged sonic weapon use against protestors in Serbia.
- Zhanna Kadyrova's concrete origami deer, evacuated from Ukraine, symbolizes hope and resilience.
- The Chinese pavilion explores the intersection of human and artificial intelligence with various artistic proposals, ending with Zhang Zhoujie's digital chairs.
- A nesting gull outside the Polish pavilion caused confusion, mistaken by some as an art installation.