Lebanon names Biennale show

Lebanon’s pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale will present Nabil Nahas’s “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” curated by Nada Ghandour. (e-flux.com) The exhibition will run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, during the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, with preview days on May 6, 7 and 8. Lebanon’s pavilion site lists Ghandour as both commissioner and curator. (labiennale.org) (lebanesepavilionvenice.com) The Lebanon pavilion is set at the Arsenale, at Campo de la Tana, 2169/f in Venice, according to the e-flux announcement. The show is being presented by the Pavilion of Lebanon rather than folded into the Biennale’s central international exhibition. (e-flux.com) (labiennale.org) That distinction matters at Venice because national pavilions are organized separately from the Biennale’s main curated show, which in 2026 is titled “In Minor Keys.” The Biennale says that exhibition was curated by Koyo Kouoh and will still go forward with the support of her family. (labiennale.org) Nahas, born in Beirut in 1949, earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at Yale University in 1973 and divides his time between New York and Beirut. His official biography says his later paintings draw on trees and plant life associated with Lebanon. (nabilnahas.com) Other recent descriptions of the project say Nahas plans a large-scale installation rather than a single painting. L’Orient-Le Jour reported in February that he presented a frieze nearly 45 meters long made up of 26 canvases at Lebanon’s National Library. (today.lorientlejour.com) The pavilion is being organized by the Lebanese Visual Art Association under the auspices of Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture, according to multiple pavilion announcements. A February event listing said Culture Minister Ghassan Salamé attended the Beirut unveiling. (executive-bulletin.com) (artrabbit.com) For Lebanon, the announcement locks in the artist, curator and title a few weeks before the Biennale opens in Venice on May 9. For visitors, it sets up a national presentation built around one of Lebanon’s best-known painters and a project now formally named before the 2026 edition begins. (e-flux.com) (labiennale.org)