Oman and the Biennale jury

Oman has picked Haitham Al Busafi to represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale, as La Biennale di Venezia also named the five-member jury that will award the show’s top prizes. (artasiapacific.com (labiennale.org) Al Busafi is an Omani artist, architect, and curator, and his project for Venice will combine sand, metal, and sound. Oman’s culture ministry said the work draws on the country’s landscapes and material history. (artasiapacific.com) The 61st International Art Exhibition, titled *In Minor Keys*, opens to the public on May 9, 2026, and runs through November 22 across the Giardini and Arsenale in Venice. The awards ceremony is also scheduled for May 9. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) La Biennale said the jury was appointed by its board on the recommendation of curator Koyo Kouoh. The panel will decide the Golden Lion for best national participation, the Golden Lion for an artist in the international exhibition, the Silver Lion for a promising young participant, and other official prizes. (labiennale.org) The jury will be led by Solange Oliveira Farkas, founder and artistic director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil. The other members are museum director Elvira Dyangani Ose, educator and curator Marta Kuzma, art historian Giovanna Zapperi, and curator Zoe Butt. (labiennale.org) (artnews.com) This edition of the Biennale is proceeding under Kouoh’s curatorial framework after her death in May 2025. La Biennale said in 2025 that the 2026 exhibition would continue with the title and vision she had already developed. (artasiapacific.com) (labiennale.org) La Biennale said the main exhibition will include 110 invited participants from multiple geographies, including individual artists, duos, collectives, and artist-led organizations. National pavilions, like Oman’s, run alongside that central exhibition and are organized separately by participating countries. (labiennale.org) (artnews.com) For Oman, the selection puts Al Busafi’s installation into one of the art world’s biggest recurring international showcases just over two weeks before the exhibition opens on May 9. For Venice, the jury announcement sets the group that will decide which countries and artists leave the 2026 edition with a Lion. (artasiapacific.com) (labiennale.org)