Vietnam debuts at Venice

Vietnam will make its first official national-pavilion appearance at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. (artasiapacific.com) La Biennale di Venezia said the 61st International Art Exhibition, curated by Koyo Kouoh and titled *In Minor Keys*, will run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with 100 national participations and 31 collateral events. Vietnam is listed among seven first-time countries in the national-participation program. (labiennale.org) Vietnam’s presentation is titled *Viet Nam: Art in the Global Flow* and will be staged at the restored Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon palace in Venice. ArtAsiaPacific reported the show is curated by Đỗ Tường Linh and brings together 10 artists. (artasiapacific.com) The Venice Biennale’s national pavilions are the exhibition’s country-based format: states or official organizers mount their own shows alongside the main curated exhibition. Vietnam has appeared in Venice before through artists and side projects, but 2026 is being presented as its formal entry into that national-pavilion system. (labiennale.org) (artasiapacific.com) That shift places Vietnam inside the Biennale’s most visible diplomatic and cultural structure, where countries use dedicated venues to present artists to curators, collectors, museums, and press over a six-month run. The 2026 edition opens with a larger field than the 99 countries and territories cited in some Vietnamese media previews, because La Biennale’s own March announcement counts 100 national participations. (labiennale.org) (vietnam.vnanet.vn) One confirmed project in the pavilion is *Tằm* by Hanoi-based artist Lê Hữu Hiếu, also known as Henry Le. ArtAsiaPacific said the installation includes 12 sculptural guardian figures, a house-like central structure, a large lacquer painting, and live silkworms. (artasiapacific.com) Hiếu is not new to Venice: in 2021 he held *Soul Energy* at Arsenale Nord, which ArtAsiaPacific described as the first solo exhibition in Venice by a Vietnamese artist. Vietnam News said his 2026 presentation is the only solo show by a Vietnamese artist at this year’s Biennale. (artasiapacific.com) (vietnamnews.vn) The pavilion’s artist list spans lacquer painting and mixed-media installation, with names including Nguyễn Thành Chương, Đoàn Thị Thu Hương, Bùi Hữu Hùng, Trịnh Tuân, and Đinh Văn Quân alongside younger figures such as Nguyễn Trường Linh and Triệu Khắc Tiến. That mix suggests a presentation built around both established and newer strands of contemporary Vietnamese art. (artasiapacific.com) The immediate next step is the opening in Venice on May 9, when Vietnam’s first national pavilion will move from announcement to public test. For a country long present in global art circuits without a pavilion of its own, 2026 is the year it enters the Biennale’s country map under its own flag. (labiennale.org) (artasiapacific.com)