Oman's Biennale pavilion

Oman has named Haitham Al Busafi to represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a new installation called *Zīnah (Adornment).* (artasiapacific.com) The 61st International Art Exhibition opens on May 9, 2026, and runs through Nov. 22 in Venice. Al Busafi is serving as both artist and curator for Oman’s pavilion. (labiennale.org) (arabnews.com) The pavilion is commissioned by Oman’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and will be installed in the Arsenale Artiglierie, one of the Biennale’s main exhibition sites. Reports on the project say it uses sand, suspended metal and collectively generated sound. (artdaily.com) (timesofoman.com) The work draws on *Al-zannah*, the Omani tradition of silver horse adornment, and scales it up into an immersive environment rather than a display of discrete objects. That shift places a vernacular form associated with ceremony and craft inside one of contemporary art’s biggest international stages. (artdaily.com) (arabnews.com) This year’s Biennale is organized under the title *In Minor Keys*, the exhibition concept developed by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The official curatorial text frames the show around slower, lower-register forms of attention, a context that fits Oman's emphasis on sound, material and atmosphere. (labiennale.org) (universes.art) Oman’s 2026 presentation is its third participation in the Venice Biennale, according to local coverage announcing the national pavilion earlier this month. Officials cast the project as part of a broader push to expand the country’s cultural presence abroad through state-backed exhibitions. (timesofoman.com) (canvasonline.com) Al Busafi is described in the announcement as an artist, architect and curator, a mix that helps explain the pavilion’s emphasis on spatial experience as much as object-making. The published project description presents the installation as participatory, with visitors helping produce parts of its soundscape. (artasiapacific.com) (artdaily.com) The pavilion announcement lands as national programs for Venice are being rolled out across April ahead of the May preview days. Oman’s bet is that a work built from sand, metal and sound can carry a local ceremonial language into the crowded international conversation of the Arsenale. (labiennale.org) (artasiapacific.com)