Artist will paint live in Venice
Estonian artist Merike Estna’s pavilion project, The House of Leaking Sky, will literally be created in public — Estna plans to paint in view of visitors for the duration of the Biennale, turning the making process into part of the exhibition. ( ) That approach shifts attention from finished objects to process and offers a rare chance to see an established artist’s working methods on site in Venice. (biennialfoundation.org)
At the Estonian Pavilion in Venice this year, visitors will be able to watch Merike Estna keep painting after the show opens, so the exhibition changes while people are standing in it. The project is called *The House of Leaking Sky*, and the public run of the 61st Venice Biennale starts on May 9, 2026. (e-flux.com, labiennale.org) That is unusual because national pavilions at the Venice Biennale usually present finished works, not a studio still in motion for six months. Estna’s setup turns the act of painting into an ongoing performance that lasts through the Biennale’s full run to November 22, 2026. (e-flux.com, labiennale.org) Estonia’s pavilion is not in the main Giardini gardens or the Arsenale shipyards but at Patronato Salesiano Leone XIII in Venice’s Castello district. The venue will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., which means the making of the work is being folded into normal visiting hours rather than hidden behind installation days. (e-flux.com) The physical installation is large before Estna even picks up a brush in Venice. Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported that the pavilion will be covered with 25,000 glazed floor tiles and anchored by a monumental painting assembled on site from 22 canvases. (news.err.ee) Those details fit the way Estna has worked for years. Her practice has expanded from canvas to clothes, objects, and entire rooms, using patterns and craft traditions that painting institutions have often treated as secondary. (temnikova.ee, artreview.com) Estna was chosen to represent Estonia in October 2024, and curator Natalia Sielewicz was announced for the pavilion later as the project took shape. The exhibition is being organized by the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, the body that handles Estonia’s Venice presentation. (artreview.com, artrabbit.com, eaa.ee) ERR’s report adds a second layer to the pavilion’s subject: Estna said the project speaks about being a female artist and, in parallel, about being a mother. Putting the work process in public view means that idea is not only described in wall text but acted out day after day in front of visitors. (news.err.ee) The wider Biennale around it will be the 61st International Art Exhibition, titled *In Minor Keys*, with previews on May 6, 7, and 8 before the public opening on May 9. In that setting, Estonia is betting on something less like a sealed national display and more like an open workshop that never quite stops becoming itself. (labiennale.org, vivaticket.it)
