61st Venice Biennale opens amid grief and geopolitical tensions

La Biennale di Venezia opened the 61st International Art Exhibition on May 9 under the title “In Minor Keys,” a show conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh and carried out after her death with the support of her family. The exhibition runs through Nov. 22 at the Giardini, the Arsenale, Forte Marghera and other sites across Venice. (labiennale.org) La Biennale says the edition includes 100 national participations and 31 collateral events, with seven countries joining for the first time. Opening-day attendance reached about 10,000 visitors, up 10% from the 2024 edition, according to the organizer. (labiennale.org) The opening has unfolded in a setting shaped by mourning for Kouoh, who died on May 10, 2025, and by the political strains visible across national presentations and collateral shows. (labiennale.org) The Hindu, reporting from Venice on May 17, described the atmosphere as one marked by grief and geopolitical tension, linking that mood both to Kouoh’s posthumous presence and to disputes around representation, including a South African-linked exhibition that included a Palestinian poet. ### Why is Koyo Kouoh’s absence central to this edition? Koyo Kouoh was appointed artistic director of the Visual Arts Department in November 2024 and had already defined the exhibition’s framework, selected artists and artworks, and set its graphic and spatial direction before her death, La Biennale said. (labiennale.org) The institution said it chose to proceed “just as she conceived and defined it,” with work completed by a team she had selected. May 10, 2026, marked one year since Kouoh’s death, and La Biennale published a memorial notice during opening week. The official materials name Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira and Rasha Salti as advisors, Siddhartha Mitter as editor-in-chief, and Rory Tsapayi as research assistant on the realized exhibition. (thehindu.com) ### How large is the 2026 Biennale, exactly? La Biennale’s official count is 100 national participations, not 99, alongside 31 collateral events. The organizer said 29 national pavilions are in the Giardini, 25 in the Arsenale and 46 in central Venice. Seven countries are participating for the first time: Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Nauru, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Vietnam. (labiennale.org) El Salvador is also participating for the first time with its own pavilion, according to La Biennale. May 4 brought one change to that roster. La Biennale said Iran would not participate, while adding that the official list still comprised 100 national participations after Tanzania and Seychelles were added following the March announcement. (labiennale.org) ### Where did the geopolitical tensions show up? The Hindu’s May 17 dispatch said the exhibition landed in “an age of grief and geopolitical fracture” and quoted British visual artist Rebecca Chesney saying she cried at “Elegy,” an exhibition by Gabrielle Goliath that “was meant to be the South African pavilion but wasn’t due to disputes over its inclusion of a Palestinian poet.” That account tied the emotional register of the opening to both the international climate and the politics of selection around national representation. (labiennale.org) La Biennale’s own notices also reflected political strain around the event. (labiennale.org) The organizer announced on April 30 that the international jury had resigned, and on May 4 said Iran would not take part in the exhibition. La Biennale has not, in the materials reviewed here, publicly linked those developments to a single cause. ### What else is drawing attention beyond the main exhibition? Wallace Chan’s “Mythos” has turned Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo into one of the most discussed off-site installations of opening week. The Korea Herald reported on May 16 that Chan installed floating titanium sculptures in the 15th-century tower, drawing on Tintoretto’s “The Three Graces and Mercury” and linking mythology, astronomy and technology. (thehindu.com) Curator James Putnam said the site had once served as an astronomical observation point. Dale Chihuly’s “CHIHULY: Venice 2026” opened on May 5 at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, concurrent with the Biennale. Chihuly’s official exhibition page says the project marks 30 years since “Chihuly Over Venice” and includes three new sculptures installed along the Grand Canal, plus an interpretive and archival center curated by Suzanne Geiss. (labiennale.org) ### What happens next for visitors and participants? Biennale Arte 2026 continues through Nov. 22, with summer hours set at 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May through September and extended Arsenale hours on Fridays and Saturdays until 8 p.m., according to La Biennale. The organizer has also established two Visitors’ Lions, with voting procedures announced on May 15 and the awards ceremony scheduled for Nov. 22, the closing day. (m.koreaherald.com) (labiennale.org) (chihuly.com)