UAE pavilion listens closely
The UAE pavilion at the Venice Biennale, titled “Washwasha,” frames listening as its core concept and stages works about whispers, echoes and shared histories carried through sound. (thenationalnews.com)
The United Arab Emirates will use sound as the organizing idea of its 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion, with a show called “Washwasha” opening in Venice on May 9. (wam.ae) The exhibition is curated by Bana Kattan, with Tala Nassar as assistant curator, and brings together six artists: Mays Albaik, Jawad Al Malhi, Farah Al Qasimi, Alaa Edris, Lamya Gargash and Taus Makhacheva. It runs through November 22 at the Arsenale’s Sale d’Armi, with pre-opening days on May 6, 7 and 8. (universes.art, labiennale.org) “Washwasha” means “whispering” in Arabic, and the pavilion says the works look at contemporary soundscapes in the United Arab Emirates through memory, migration, transience and ties to the land. The presentation will also include a publication of essays and conversations about sound from historical, personal and theoretical angles. (universes.art, nationalpavilionuae.org) The show lands inside a Biennale shaped by the late curator Koyo Kouoh’s theme, “In Minor Keys,” which calls for slower attention to quieter frequencies rather than spectacle. The UAE pavilion’s focus on whispers and echoes fits that wider frame before the exhibition even opens. (labiennale.org, universes.art) For the UAE, this is its ninth participation in the International Art Exhibition and part of a longer Venice presence that began in 2009. Since 2013, the country has had a permanent pavilion in the Arsenale under a 20-year agreement signed by the government. (canvasonline.com, shf.ae) The National Pavilion UAE is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Culture. That structure has made the pavilion a regular platform for presenting artists and curators from the UAE in one of the art world’s biggest recurring exhibitions. (wam.ae, shf.ae) Kattan was appointed to curate the 2026 pavilion in September 2025 while serving as curator and associate head of exhibitions at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project. Her exhibition now arrives as Gulf institutions push harder to place regional histories, languages and artistic research inside global art circuits. (e-flux.com, artasiapacific.com) When “Washwasha” opens in May, the UAE pavilion will ask Biennale visitors to do something exhibitions do not often demand first: listen. (msn.com), universes.art)
