G.A.S. at Venice Biennale

Guest Artists Space Foundation, a Nigerian residency platform founded by Yinka Shonibare, will present a project in the main exhibition of the 2026 Venice Biennale. (guestartistsspace.com) The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with preview days on May 6, 7 and 8, across the Giardini, the Arsenale and other Venice sites. (labiennale.org) Guest Artists Space, which the foundation shortens to G.A.S., said its contribution is a collaborative artwork led by Ann Marie Peña, with support from Shonibare, chief executive Belinda Holden and executive director Moni Aisida. Samantha Russell is managing the project, and MOE+ Art Architecture is designing the installation. (guestartistsspace.com) The foundation is not a national pavilion. It is part of the Biennale’s main exhibition, the centrally curated show that sits alongside 99 national participations and 31 collateral events in 2026. (guestartistsspace.com) (labiennale.org) That distinction matters in Venice because the main exhibition is shaped by the Biennale curator, while national pavilions are organized separately by countries. La Biennale said any country recognized by Italy can apply independently to participate. (labiennale.org) The 2026 edition carries the title *In Minor Keys*, a concept developed by Koyo Kouoh before her death on May 10, 2025. La Biennale said it chose to carry out the exhibition with the support of Kouoh’s family and the team she assembled. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) La Biennale said Kouoh had already defined the exhibition’s framework, selected artists and works, set the graphic identity and exhibition architecture, and named key collaborators including Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, Rasha Salti, Siddhartha Mitter and Rory Tsapayi. (labiennale.org) Guest Artists Space was founded in 2019 and runs programs across two Nigerian sites: a live-work space in Lagos and a farm-based site in Ijebu, Ogun State. The organization says its residencies and public programs focus on cultural exchange, research and new work. (guestartistsspace.com 1) (guestartistsspace.com 2) In its announcement, the foundation said Kouoh’s invitation treated the residency itself as an artistic practice and a site of research, not only as backstage support for artists. That frames the Venice project less as a single studio production and more as an extension of the institution’s way of working. (guestartistsspace.com) Venice opens in less than a month, and the G.A.S. presentation will test whether a residency platform from Lagos and Ogun can hold its own inside the Biennale’s biggest room. (labiennale.org) (guestartistsspace.com)