Venice jury named

La Biennale di Venezia has named the five-member jury that will award the top prizes at the 2026 Venice Biennale art exhibition, with Solange Oliveira Farkas as president. (labiennale.org) The other jurors are Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma and Giovanna Zapperi, according to the announcement published on April 22. La Biennale said the awards ceremony will be held in Venice on Saturday, May 9, 2026. (labiennale.org) That date is also the public opening day for the 61st International Art Exhibition, which runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, after a three-day pre-opening from May 6 to May 8. The show will take place at the Giardini, the Arsenale and other sites across Venice. (labiennale.org) The jury matters because it decides the Biennale’s official awards, including the Golden Lion prizes that can shape an artist’s visibility, market demand and museum profile during the exhibition’s six-month run. La Biennale tied this year’s jury announcement directly to the May 9 awards and inauguration. (labiennale.org) This edition is being curated by Koyo Kouoh under the title *In Minor Keys*. La Biennale says the central exhibition will include 110 invited participants drawn from multiple geographies and regions. (labiennale.org; labiennale.org) The wider exhibition around that core show is larger still. La Biennale said in March that Biennale Arte 2026 will include 100 national participations and 31 collateral events. (labiennale.org) Seven countries are taking part in the Venice Biennale for the first time in 2026: Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Nauru, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Vietnam. La Biennale also said El Salvador will participate for the first time with its own pavilion. (labiennale.org) Kouoh was appointed curator in November 2024, when La Biennale named her director of the Visual Arts Department for the 2026 exhibition. The organization announced the show dates in 2025 and the invited artists in February 2026, filling in the main pieces of the calendar before this week’s jury announcement. (labiennale.org; labiennale.org; labiennale.org) With the jury now set, the next fixed date is May 9, when Venice opens *In Minor Keys* to the public and hands out the exhibition’s first official prizes. (labiennale.org; labiennale.org)