Taus Makhacheva performs at UAE Pavilion

Taus Makhacheva opened a performance at the UAE Pavilion in Venice on August 6 that treats gossip not as dialogue but as choreography, according to The National. The work was reported from the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, which is running across Venice through November 22, 2026. The National described the piece as following the way a rumor moves through the body and changes emotional form across staged segments. La Biennale says performances and related activities in the national pavilions can change during the run of the exhibition. ### What, exactly, is Makhacheva staging at the UAE Pavilion? The National reported on August 6 that Makhacheva’s performance transforms gossip into movement at the UAE Pavilion in Venice. Rather than framing rumor as a spoken exchange alone, the report described the work as a sequence in which a piece of gossip is registered physically and then altered through performance. (thenationalnews.com) The National said the piece tracks how a rumor “enters the body” and then changes shape emotionally across staged movement segments. That description places the work in a familiar Makhacheva register of performance and conceptual art, while keeping the focus on the bodily mechanics of transmission rather than on a narrative plot. ### Why is the UAE Pavilion the setting for this work? (thenationalnews.com) The UAE Pavilion is one of the national presentations mounted during the Venice Biennale, which this year is the 61st International Art Exhibition. La Biennale says the 2026 edition, titled “In Minor Keys,” runs from May 9 to November 22 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and other locations across Venice. Venice gives national pavilions a structure in which countries and affiliated institutions can present artists in a setting separate from the central exhibition. (thenationalnews.com) In this case, The National’s report places Makhacheva’s performance inside the UAE Pavilion’s program rather than in the Biennale’s main curated exhibition. ### What does the reporting say about how the piece works? (labiennale.org) The National’s account is specific about process rather than plot. Its description of the work centers on staged movement segments that register emotional change as gossip passes from one state to another. That framing suggests the performance is organized as an embodied chain of transmission: rumor arrives, is absorbed, and is altered. (thenationalnews.com) The interpretation belongs to The National’s description of the piece, which emphasizes emotional mutation and physical expression over spoken explanation. ### How does this fit into the 2026 Venice Biennale calendar? La Biennale says the 61st International Art Exhibition opened to the public on May 9 after a pre-opening on May 6, 7 and 8. (thenationalnews.com) The exhibition’s closing date is November 22, 2026, when La Biennale also says the awards ceremony will be held. The Biennale’s visitor information page says opening hours shift seasonally and notes that performances and other activities, including those in national pavilions, are subject to change. (thenationalnews.com) That means pavilion-based works such as Makhacheva’s may not operate on a fixed daily schedule for the full run. ### If someone wants to see it next, what should they check? La Biennale directs visitors to its 2026 art exhibition information and visit-planning pages for current access details, hours and ticketing. (labiennale.org) Those pages say the exhibition continues through November 22 and note that pavilion performances may change. The National published its report on August 6 in Venice, and La Biennale’s official schedule remains the clearest source for what is on view next at the UAE Pavilion and elsewhere in the 2026 exhibition. (labiennale.org) (thenationalnews.com)