Vatican’s sound pavilion

The Vatican’s 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion will be built around listening, with a sound-based exhibition that includes FKA Twigs, Brian Eno and Dev Hynes. (theartnewspaper.com) The Holy See said the project is titled *The Ear is the Eye of the Soul* and will run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, during the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Curators Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers are organizing it with Soundwalk Collective. (vaticannews.va) The exhibition will unfold across two Venice sites: the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelite in Cannaregio and the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice complex in Castello. The Biennale itself opens May 9 after preview days on May 6, 7 and 8. (vaticannews.va) (labiennale.org) The Vatican said 24 artists will contribute new works inspired by Saint Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century Benedictine abbess, composer, poet and healer. Along with FKA Twigs, Eno and Hynes, the list includes Precious Okoyomon and Otobong Nkanga. (vaticannews.va) (theartnewspaper.com) That marks a different route for a national pavilion at Venice, where countries usually center painting, sculpture, film or installation. The Holy See is tying its show instead to voice, music, prayer and recorded sound. (labiennale.org) (theartnewspaper.com) The move also extends the Vatican’s recent use of the Biennale as a live cultural platform rather than a conventional white-cube display. In 2024, the Holy See pavilion was staged inside the Giudecca women’s prison, and Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit the Biennale. (vaticannews.va 1) (vaticannews.va 2) This year’s wider Biennale carries the title *In Minor Keys*, a show conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh and still being presented with her family’s support. The Holy See pavilion’s emphasis on quieter, slower forms of attention fits that larger frame. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) Hildegard gives the pavilion a bridge between church history and contemporary art: she was a medieval religious leader whose writings and music still circulate widely in both liturgical and secular culture. The Vatican is using her as the anchor for a roster that spans pop, ambient music, poetry and contemporary art. (theartnewspaper.com) (artsy.net) Visitors will be able to test that idea in person when the Biennale opens in Venice on May 9. For the Holy See, the pavilion is less a room to look at than a place to stand in and hear. (labiennale.org) (vaticannews.va)