Biennale dates & Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt University says two of its faculty artists will present work in the 2026 Venice Biennale, marking the school’s first appearance at the exhibition. (news.vanderbilt.edu) The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia runs from May 9 to Nov. 22, 2026, with preview days on May 6, 7 and 8. The main exhibition is staged at the Giardini and Arsenale, with additional sites around Venice. (labiennale.org, labiennale.org) Vanderbilt identified the participating artists as María Magdalena Campos-Pons, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Art, and Kamaal Malak, the university’s artist-in-residence of culture, advocacy and leadership. The university said both will present works in “In Minor Keys,” the 2026 exhibition shaped by curator Koyo Kouoh. (news.vanderbilt.edu, labiennale.org) The Venice Biennale is one of the largest recurring exhibitions in contemporary art, with 111 invited participants, 99 national participations and 31 collateral events announced for 2026. That scale puts Vanderbilt’s entry inside a global exhibition that draws museums, curators, collectors and art schools into one city for more than six months. (labiennale.org, labiennale.org) The 2026 edition is also unfolding under unusual circumstances. La Biennale di Venezia said it is carrying out Kouoh’s exhibition with the support of her family after her death in May 2025, preserving the project as she conceived it. (labiennale.org, news.vanderbilt.edu) Vanderbilt said its Venice presence will extend beyond the exhibition itself through “Resonance: Vanderbilt University in Venice,” a public program series running from May 10 to July 10, 2026. The university described it as a palazzo-based program of exhibitions, sonic inquiry and public convenings. (news.vanderbilt.edu) The school tied that program to Campos-Pons’s Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice, a research initiative focused on creative approaches to civic life in the American South. Vanderbilt said the initiative recently received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. (news.vanderbilt.edu) For visitors, the exhibition’s one-access ticket is listed at 30 euros, with reduced prices for students, younger visitors and Venice residents. The show is closed on Mondays except for four listed dates: May 11, June 1, Sept. 7 and Nov. 16. (labiennale.org) The immediate next date is the Biennale preview on May 6. Vanderbilt’s public program in Venice starts four days later, on May 10. (labiennale.org, news.vanderbilt.edu)