Venice Biennale opens May 9
- La Biennale di Venezia confirmed its 61st Art Exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” will open to the public on May 9 and run through November 22, 2026. - The edition will proceed with Koyo Kouoh’s curatorial plan after her death, featuring 110 invited participants and awards on opening day in Venice. - Opening week is shadowed by a Russia dispute and ministerial boycott. (euronews.com)
The 61st Venice Biennale opens to the public on Saturday, May 9, with “In Minor Keys,” the exhibition conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. (labiennale.org) La Biennale says preview days will run May 6 to May 8, with the awards ceremony and inauguration set for May 9. The exhibition then runs through November 22 across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other Venice sites. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) The show will feature 110 invited participants, including individual artists, duos, collectives, and artist-led organizations from multiple regions. La Biennale has said it will carry out Kouoh’s exhibition with the support of her family. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) Kouoh was appointed in November 2024 and died on May 10, 2025, at age 58. She was the first African woman chosen to lead the Venice Art Biennale. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) (euronews.com) Her curatorial team presented the framework for “In Minor Keys” on February 25, 2026, keeping her title and exhibition structure in place. La Biennale also published an introduction that pairs Kouoh’s own text with notes from her team. (labiennale.org) (labiennale.org) (designboom.com) The opening is also arriving with a political fight over Russia’s pavilion. Euronews reported Monday that Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli will skip both the preview events and the May 9 opening ceremony. (euronews.com) (artnews.com) Euronews said the Russian Federation pavilion will remain closed to the public from May 9 to November 22, though it is expected to open to media from May 6 to May 8. Russia has not participated in the Biennale since 2022, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (euronews.com) (ansa.it) Around the preview week, outside projects are already attaching themselves to the Biennale calendar. Third Space Art Foundation says Tsedaye Makonnen and Jermay Michael Gabriel will present “Waves of Ash” during May 5 to May 9 as part of its “1922 Revisited” live arts program. (finance.yahoo.com) (finance.yahoo.com) (finance.yahoo.com) So the 2026 Biennale is opening on schedule, but not under ordinary circumstances: the exhibition bears Kouoh’s name and structure, while the politics around national pavilions are still shaping the first week. (labiennale.org) (euronews.com)
