Lebanon’s pavilion pick revealed

Lebanon has named Nabil Nahas to represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale with “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” curated by Nada Ghandour. (e-flux.com) The project is slated for the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, which runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with preview days on May 6, 7, and 8. Lebanon’s presentation is listed at the Arsenale in Venice. (labiennale.org, e-flux.com) The Biennale’s main 2026 exhibition carries the title “In Minor Keys” and is proceeding under the curatorial vision of Koyo Kouoh, according to La Biennale di Venezia. National pavilions like Lebanon’s sit alongside that larger international exhibition. (labiennale.org, biennialassociation.org) The e-flux announcement is one of the first public listings to pin down Lebanon’s artist-curator pairing before the Biennale’s wider programming is fully rolled out. That makes it an early marker of how the country plans to frame its 2026 presence in Venice. (e-flux.com, labiennale.org) Nahas is a Beirut-born painter who studied at Louisiana State University and Yale University and has long split his time between New York and Beirut. His work is widely associated with dense, textured surfaces and recurring references to plant life, marine forms, and geometric pattern. (nabilnahas.com, lawrieshabibi.com) Lebanon’s pavilion website says Ghandour is the project’s curator and describes her as a specialist in modern and contemporary art with training in heritage curation in Paris. The same site identifies Nahas as Lebanon’s representative for the 61st edition. (lebanesepavilionvenice.com) Additional exhibition listings indicate the work will take the form of a large installation stretching about 45 linear meters and made up of 26 acrylic-on-canvas panels, each about 3 meters high. Those descriptions say the piece draws on Persian miniatures, geometric abstraction, figuration, and fractal-like patterning. (myartguides.com, executive-bulletin.com) Lebanon also used the Venice platform in 2024, when Mounira Al Solh represented the country at the 60th International Art Exhibition, with Ghandour involved in that pavilion project as well. The 2026 selection points to continuity in Lebanon’s Biennale team even as the artist changes. (artafricamagazine.org, lebanesepavilionvenice.com) The next step is the public opening in Venice in May, when “Don’t Get Me Wrong” moves from an early listing to Lebanon’s full national presentation inside the Biennale calendar. (e-flux.com, labiennale.org)