Biennale creates two Visitors’ Lions

The Venice Biennale just changed how one of the art world’s biggest prize systems works — and it did it days before the 2026 exhibition opens. La Biennale di Venezia has created two new “Visitors’ Lions” for Biennale Arte 2026, with winners chosen by people who actually attend the show, not by a jury. The timing is the real story. This move landed on April 30, the same day the Biennale said its entire international jury had resigned. (labiennale.org) ### What exactly changed? Two new awards now sit inside the 61st International Art Exhibition, *In Minor Keys*, curated by Koyo Kouoh. One Visitors’ Lion will go to the best national participation, and the other will go to the best participant in the international exhibition. Vo(labiennale.org)ing day. (labiennale.org) ### Why is that unusual? Normally, the Biennale’s top prizes are decided by an international jury and handed out at the opening. Back on February 25, the Biennale said the awards ceremony and inauguration would take place on May 9, 2026. Then, on April 30, that structure changed(labiennale.org)judging system broke. (labiennale.org) ### What happened to the jury? The Biennale said it had received the resignations of all five jury members: Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. The institution’s statement did not spell out the dispute in detail there, but outside coverage tied the resignations to a fig(labiennale.org)nsidered for awards. That matters because it explains why the Biennale suddenly needed another way to confer honors at all. (labiennale.org) ### Why give the vote to visitors? Basically, it keeps the prize structure alive without having to resolve the jury crisis before opening day. A visitor-voted award is also hard to attack as elitist or backroom-driven — the institution can say the public decided. But the catch is that(labiennale.org)fficult work. Visitor prizes tend to reward immediacy, visibility, and the pavilion or installation that leaves the clearest impression after one walk-through. That last point is an inference, but it follows from how audience-vote awards usually work. (labiennale.org) ### What are visitors actually voting on? A lot. *In Minor Keys* runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026 across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other Venice locations. The international exhibition includes 110 participants, and the broader Biennale includes 99 national pavilions. T(labiennale.org)nce signal. (labiennale.org) ### Does this change Koyo Kouoh’s exhibition? Not directly — the show itself is still *In Minor Keys*. But it does change the frame around it. Kouoh’s exhibition now opens under two kinds of pressure at once: the normal pressure of launching a major global art event, and the extra pressure of doing so after a jury collapse. The Visitors’ Lion(labiennale.org)going without pretending nothing happened. (labiennale.org) ### Why should anyone outside the art world care? Because the Biennale is a prestige machine. Prizes there shape careers, gallery attention, museum interest, and national cultural bragging rights. When the institution shifts from expert jurors to the audience — even partly — it is testing a different idea of legitimacy. Not “who impressed fiv(labiennale.org)ross a full public run.” (labiennale.org) ### Bottom line? This looks like crisis management, but it may end up being more than that. The Biennale had a jury system, lost it, and replaced part of its authority with the crowd. If the Visitors’ Lions land well, they could outlast the crisis that created them.