Biennale: Patti Smith, Eno

The 2026 Venice Biennale is adding two new points of focus before it opens on May 9: the Holy See has enlisted Patti Smith and Brian Eno, and Vietnam is mounting its first national pavilion. (labiennale.org) (wallpaper.com) (artasiapacific.com) La Biennale di Venezia’s 61st International Art Exhibition, titled “In Minor Keys,” runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with previews on May 6, 7, and 8. The show is proceeding under the curatorial framework developed by Koyo Kouoh before her death in May 2025. (labiennale.org) The Holy See pavilion is titled “The Ear is the Eye of the Soul” and brings together 24 artists, poets, musicians, architects, and filmmakers. Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers curated it for Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, with Soundwalk Collective as a collaborator. (wallpaper.com) (artsy.net) The Vatican project is built around Saint Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century abbess, composer, poet, and healer. Its two Venice sites are the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelites in Cannaregio and the Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Castello. (theartnewspaper.com) (artsy.net) At the garden site, visitors will hear commissioned pieces through headphones while moving through a 17th-century monastic landscape of plots and arbours. The participant list includes Patti Smith, Brian Eno, FKA Twigs, Devonté Hynes, Jim Jarmusch, Meredith Monk, Suzanne Ciani, Terry Riley, Otobong Nkanga, and Precious Okoyomon. (wallpaper.com) (artsy.net) Across town, Santa Maria Ausiliatrice is being used as a contemporary scriptorium, borrowing the medieval term for rooms where manuscripts were copied and illuminated. The installation there includes Alexander Kluge’s final work, a multilingual text archive, and new monastery architecture by Tatiana Bilbao. (artsy.net) (theartnewspaper.com) Vietnam’s debut pavilion is titled “Viet Nam: Art in the Global Flow” and will be staged at the restored Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon palace in San Marco. ArtAsiaPacific reported the pavilion as the country’s first national presentation at the Biennale. (artasiapacific.com) (myartguides.com) Curator Đỗ Tường Linh’s exhibition includes 10 artists: Lê Hữu Hiếu, Nguyễn Thành Chương, Đoàn Thị Thu Hương, Bùi Hữu Hùng, Lê Hoàng Nguyên, Trịnh Tuân, Đinh Văn Quân, Nguyễn Trường Linh, Triệu Khắc Tiến, and Lê Nguyên Chính. My Art Guides says the pavilion is organized around traditional Vietnamese lacquer, a resin-based technique built through repeated layers and hand-polishing. (artasiapacific.com) (myartguides.com) One confirmed work is Lê Hữu Hiếu’s immersive installation “Tằm,” or “silkworm.” ArtAsiaPacific noted that Lê was the first Vietnamese artist to stage a solo exhibition at Venice’s Arsenale Nord in 2021, and My Art Guides describes his Biennale work as a large sculptural installation made with jackwood, red lacquer, bronze, and aluminium. (artasiapacific.com) (myartguides.com) Taken together, the two announcements show how the 2026 Biennale is expanding at both ends of the format: one pavilion turns to medieval listening and contemporary sound, while another gives Vietnam its first national room in Venice. Both will open into the same six-month exhibition city on May 9. (labiennale.org) (wallpaper.com) (artasiapacific.com)