Austrian pavilion opens with jetskiers in Florentina Holzinger performance at Venice Biennale

Florentina Holzinger opened Austria’s pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale on May 6 with “Seaworld Venice,” a performance installation that has drawn attention for naked jetskiers, a human bell and an audience-participation sequence involving urine. La Biennale di Venezia lists Holzinger as Austria’s artist for the 2026 exhibition and says her project uses water “as both subject and symbol” in a work where “nature and technology collide.” The Biennale says the main exhibition, titled “In Minor Keys,” runs from May 9 to Nov. 22 in Venice. The Austrian presentation is curated by Nora-Swantje Almes. ### What exactly is in the Austrian pavilion? La Biennale’s Austria page says Holzinger’s project starts from her long-running research into water and explores the human body in a changing landscape. The official description frames water as rising, consumed, excreted and managed, linking bodily processes to environmental systems. The Guardian reported on May 19 that the work includes performers on jet skis, a cast-iron bell lifted from the lagoon with a naked performer suspended inside it, and a sequence in which audience members were asked to contribute urine that was later used in the performance. (labiennale.org) The Art Newspaper reported on May 5 that the installation at the Austrian pavilion was conceived as an immersive work tied to ecological catastrophe, technology and a flooded future. ### When did this open, and how long is it on view? A May 6 press release for the Austrian project said preview days ran from May 6 to May 8, with the pavilion opening on May 6 at 12:30 p.m. and the work on view from May 9 to Nov. 22. La Biennale’s 2026 information page gives the same closing date for the exhibition as a whole. (nikdata.com) The Biennale’s national participations page says the 61st edition includes 100 national participations and 31 collateral events. The Giardini venue page says Austria is among the permanent national pavilions in the historic park that has hosted foreign pavilions since 1907. ### Why is Holzinger’s work getting so much attention? (annarosathomae.com) The Guardian described “Seaworld Venice” as one of the most talked-about installations at this year’s Biennale and quoted Holzinger asking, “How can nudity be so provocative?” Ocula reported on May 12 that lines formed outside the pavilion during opening week and said the project would later travel to Berlin’s Gropius Bau. (labiennale.org) ArtReview’s opening-week roundup listed Austria among the pavilions to watch and described the work as turning the pavilion into a toilet and sewage-treatment plant inhabited by naked performers. That account, like the official Biennale description, tied the project to water systems and bodily functions rather than a conventional static display. (nikdata.com) ### Who chose Holzinger for Austria? Austria’s culture ministry said in 2025 that Holzinger had been selected to design the Austrian pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale. The ministry’s current English-language Biennale page says she represents Austria with “Seaworld Venice,” curated by Almes. The Austrian project press material says Almes is affiliated with Gropius Bau in Berlin. (artreview.com) That same release describes the pavilion as Austria’s national contribution to the Biennale. ### What else is happening around this Biennale? La Biennale said on April 30 that the international jury for the 61st exhibition had resigned. (bmkoes.gv.at) The New York Times reported on May 8 that, without the jury, Biennale visitors would choose the prize winners instead. The Associated Press reported on May 9 that protests over the participation of Russia and Israel spilled into the opening of the exhibition. (annarosathomae.com) La Biennale said on May 18 that it had established voting procedures for two visitors’ prizes, with the awards ceremony set for Nov. 22. La Biennale says “In Minor Keys” remains open through Nov. 22, 2026, at the Giardini, Arsenale and other Venice sites. (labiennale.org) Austria’s pavilion, where Holzinger’s “Seaworld Venice” is installed, is in the Giardini. (apnews.com)