Venice Biennale tilts to living artists
A data analysis found the 2026 Venice Biennale main exhibition, In Minor Keys curated by Koyo Kouoh, features more than 90% living artists, signalling a curatorial tilt toward contemporary mid‑career practitioners. (news.artnet.com) Separately, Qatar announced Rirkrit Tiravanija will represent the nation with a pavilion described as “A Gathering of Remarkable People,” assembling musicians, chefs and artists from the Arab world for the 61st International Art Exhibition. (artforum.com) (thepeninsulaqatar.com)
The 2026 Venice Biennale’s main exhibition is skewing sharply toward living artists, with a separate Qatar pavilion built around live gathering, food, music and film. (news.artnet.com) La Biennale di Venezia said “In Minor Keys,” the 61st International Art Exhibition, will run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with 111 invited participants selected by Koyo Kouoh before her death in May 2025. The pre-opening is set for May 6 to 8 in Venice. (labiennale.org; labiennale.org) Artnet’s analysis of that 111-name list found more than 90 percent of the artists are living, a break from older Biennale editions that leaned more heavily on historical figures and posthumous rediscoveries. The same analysis said the roster centers more on contemporary and mid-career practice than on canon-building retrospection. (news.artnet.com) That emphasis fits how Venice has described Kouoh’s exhibition since her team confirmed it would proceed exactly as she planned it, including the artist list, catalogue structure and exhibition design. Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco said in May 2025 that organizers would realize the show “as she designed it.” (news.artnet.com; labiennale.org) Kouoh was appointed artistic director in November 2024, becoming the first African woman chosen to curate the Biennale’s central exhibition. After her death at 57, La Biennale said her advisors Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira and Rasha Salti, along with editor-in-chief Siddhartha Mitter and research assistant Rory Tsapayi, would carry the project forward. (news.artnet.com; labiennale.org) Qatar added a parallel signal on April 14, saying Rirkrit Tiravanija will lead its national pavilion with “Untitled 2026 (A Gathering of Remarkable People).” The project brings together Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid and Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan. (thepeninsulaqatar.com; artforum.com) Qatar said Tiravanija’s pavilion will sit in a temporary tent-like structure in the Giardini, inspired by Qatari gathering spaces and broader Arab traditions, on the site of its future permanent pavilion designed by Lina Ghotmeh. The exhibition is co-curated by Tom Eccles of Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies and Ruba Katrib of Museum of Modern Art PS1. (thepeninsulaqatar.com; artforum.com) Inside that structure, Qatar said Atoui will organize improvisations with musicians and poets, Al-Maria will show an experimental film, Farid will present a sculpture from her “Jerrican” series, and Kattan will run a culinary program with chefs from the Middle East and North Africa. The pavilion is being produced by Qatar Museums and presented by Rubaiya Qatar. (thepeninsulaqatar.com) Taken together, the main exhibition and one of the highest-profile national pavilions point to a 2026 Venice Biennale built around artists who are present-tense participants, not just historical references. The public test starts on May 9, when “In Minor Keys” opens across the Giardini, the Arsenale and other Venice sites. (news.artnet.com; labiennale.org)
