Vatican’s sound Biennale

The Vatican is turning its 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion into a sound exhibition built around listening instead of looking. (theartnewspaper.com) The Pavilion of the Holy See will present 24 commissioned works under the title “The Ear Is the Eye of the Soul” from May 9 to November 22, 2026, during the 61st International Art Exhibition in Venice. Artists named so far include Brian Eno, FKA Twigs, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, Devonté Hynes, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley and Precious Okoyomon. (artnews.com) The show will unfold across two Venice sites: the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelites in Cannaregio and the Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Castello. Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers are curating the project with Soundwalk Collective, the sound-art group founded in 2001. (theartnewspaper.com) (artnews.com) The Vatican says the pavilion is modeled on the life and work of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century Benedictine abbess, composer, poet and healer. The Art Newspaper reported that 20 of the commissions will be heard through headphones in the garden, alongside a Soundwalk Collective instrument that listens to the site in real time. (theartnewspaper.com) The Biennale itself runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, and the Holy See says this pavilion was conceived in response to curator Koyo Kouoh’s call for a quieter, slower register at this year’s exhibition. ARTnews reported that the Vatican describes the project as a “sonic prayer.” (labiennale.org) (artnews.com) That marks a sharp turn from the Vatican’s last art-biennale project in Venice. In 2024, the Holy See staged “With My Own Eyes” inside the Giudecca Women’s Prison, with Pope Francis becoming the first pope to visit the Venice Biennale when he met artists there on April 28, 2024. (vaticannews.va) (press.vatican.va) The new pavilion still keeps the Vatican inside contemporary art’s biggest international showcase, but it does so with musicians, poets, filmmakers and architects rather than a single national-style presentation by one artist. ARTnews reported that the Castello site will also include the final work by Alexander Kluge, who died in March 2026 at age 94, plus Hildegard texts, artist books by Ilda David’ and new monastery architecture by Tatiana Bilbao Estudio. (artnews.com) For visitors, the Vatican’s bet is simple: in a biennial built around national pavilions and visual spectacle, its own contribution will ask people to put on headphones and listen. (theartnewspaper.com)