Vietnam’s first Venice pavilion

Vietnam will stage its first national pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, adding the country to the exhibition’s official map. (artasiapacific.com) The pavilion is titled “Viet Nam: Art in the Global Flow” and will open in the restored Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon palace in Venice’s San Marco district. The 61st International Art Exhibition runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with preview days on May 6, 7, and 8. (artasiapacific.com; labiennale.org) ArtAsiaPacific reported the pavilion will feature artist Lê Hữu Hiếu, whose work was shown in Venice in 2021 in a solo exhibition titled “Soul Energy.” Vietnam Television said the 2026 edition is expected to include participants from 99 countries and territories. (artasiapacific.com; english.vtv.vn) At Venice, a national pavilion is not just an exhibition slot. It is the format countries use to present artists through state-backed or institution-backed commissions across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and venues spread through the city. (labiennale.org; artnews.com) Vietnamese artists have appeared in Venice before through collateral projects and international exhibitions, but this is the first time Vietnam is entering as an official national participant. That shifts the country from occasional presence to a named pavilion in the Biennale’s country-by-country structure. (artasiapacific.com; artnews.com) The venue is part of that story. Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon reopened in 2026 after more than a year of restoration work, and its new managers said it would return to exhibitions and events starting with Biennale Arte 2026. (initaly.it; finestresullarte.info) The 2026 Biennale will proceed under the title “In Minor Keys,” the exhibition conceived by curator Koyo Kouoh. La Biennale said in May 2025 that it would carry out Kouoh’s exhibition with the support of her family. (labiennale.org; biennialassociation.org) Vietnam’s debut also lands in a year when the Biennale’s national list is still expanding. Trade and art publications tracking the 2026 edition have described new announcements, including first official pavilions for some countries, as part of a broader reshaping of who appears in Venice and how. (artreview.com; artnews.com) For Vietnam, the next marker is no longer whether it will be in Venice, but how this first pavilion will define its place there when the Biennale opens on May 9, 2026. (labiennale.org; artasiapacific.com)