Vietnam’s Venice debut

Vietnam will open its first national pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, joining the world’s biggest state-by-state art showcase for the first time. (artasiapacific.com) The pavilion is titled “Viet Nam: Art in the Global Flow” and will be installed at Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon, a restored palace in Venice. ArtAsiaPacific reported the project on April 15, 2026, and identified curator Đỗ Tường Linh and artist Lê Hữu Hiếu as the team behind it. (artasiapacific.com) The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with preview days on May 6, 7, and 8. The main exhibition is titled “In Minor Keys,” and La Biennale says it will unfold across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other sites in Venice. (labiennale.org) At Venice, a national pavilion is a country’s official presentation inside the Biennale’s wider exhibition system. Universes.art’s running list for 2026 counts 99 national participations and marks Viet Nam among the new entries for this edition. (universes.art) That makes this more than a single show opening in May. It places Vietnam inside the Biennale’s formal national-participation structure, where countries use dedicated pavilions to present artists, curators, and cultural policy to an international art audience. (artasiapacific.com) (labiennale.org) The venue is part of the story too. InItaly reported that Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon reopened after more than a year of restoration and is being repositioned for exhibitions, cultural projects, and public events beginning with the 2026 Biennale. (initaly.it) Other art listings published in recent weeks describe the presentation as a solo project by Lê Hữu Hiếu rather than a multi-artist survey. Artrabbit says Vietnam will present an independent project in its own exhibition space for the first time, while Vietnamese state-linked coverage says Hữu Hiếu’s installation will anchor the pavilion. (artrabbit.com) (en.qdnd.vn) The Biennale itself is moving ahead under unusual circumstances. La Biennale says the 2026 exhibition will proceed with the support of curator Koyo Kouoh’s family after Kouoh’s death, keeping the exhibition dates and title already announced. (labiennale.org) By the time Venice opens on May 9, Vietnam will no longer be appearing around the Biennale from the margins or through collateral events alone. It will arrive under its own flag, in its own palace rooms, on the Biennale’s official national map. (artasiapacific.com) (universes.art)