Venice Biennale shifts focus
New data analysis shows the 2026 Venice Biennale main exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” is heavily tilted toward living, mid‑career artists rather than historical retrospectives. ( )
The 2026 Venice Biennale’s main show is shaping up as a survey of artists working now, not a retrospective of artists rediscovered after death. (news.artnet.com) La Biennale di Venezia said “In Minor Keys,” the 61st International Art Exhibition, will run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with previews on May 6, 7, and 8 at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other Venice sites. The exhibition follows the curatorial project developed by Koyo Kouoh before her death in May 2025. (labiennale.org) The Biennale has named 111 invited participants for the main exhibition. Artnet’s analysis said more than 90 percent are living artists, a sharp contrast with the 2022 and 2024 editions, which included many deceased artists as part of broader historical revisions. (labiennale.org; news.artnet.com) That change is visible in the scale and makeup of the list. Artsy reported that the 2026 main exhibition has 111 artists, far fewer than the roughly 330 included in the 2024 edition curated by Adriano Pedrosa. (artsy.net) The last two Biennale editions used the central exhibition to rewrite art history. Cecilia Alemani’s 2022 show mixed contemporary work with historical “time capsules,” and Pedrosa’s 2024 edition foregrounded artists from the Global South, migrants, Indigenous artists, and many figures absent from the canon. (news.artnet.com; artsy.net) Kouoh’s exhibition keeps the global reach but shifts the emphasis to artists already in active practice. La Biennale said the invited participants were selected from “many geographies and regions,” while Artnet described the roster as more balanced across regions and generations than recent editions. (labiennale.org; news.artnet.com) The curatorial frame also points away from spectacle. In its official presentation, La Biennale said Kouoh had already defined the exhibition’s theory, artist list, catalogue authors, graphic identity, and exhibition architecture before her death, and her team is now carrying it out. (labiennale.org) The institution has also made one unusual procedural change. La Biennale said the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement will not be awarded in 2026 because Kouoh was unable to finalize the selection before she died. (labiennale.org) What emerges is a Biennale centered on the present tense: 111 participants, more than 90 percent living, and a main exhibition built from Kouoh’s final artist choices rather than a posthumous rewrite of art history. (labiennale.org; news.artnet.com)
