Venice Biennale 61st features 99 countries

La Biennale di Venezia opened the 61st International Art Exhibition on May 9, with the 2026 edition spread across the Giardini, the Arsenale, other Venice locations and Forte Marghera. The show, titled “In Minor Keys,” runs through November 22 and was carried forward after the death in 2025 of curator Koyo Kouoh, whose plan the Biennale said it chose to realize with her family’s support. Official Biennale materials describe the event as accompanied by 100 national participations and 31 collateral events, while photo coverage published by the Guardian on May 14 described the edition as featuring participants from 99 countries. The opening week also produced some of the images that have circulated most widely from Venice, including Zhanna Kadyrova’s “Security Guarantees,” protests tied to Russia’s return, and performance works involving jet skis and bells. ### Why do some accounts say 99 countries while the Biennale says 100 national participations? La Biennale said on March 4 that Biennale Arte 2026 would be accompanied by 100 national participations and 31 collateral events. The same notice said seven countries were taking part for the first time and that El Salvador was participating for the first time with its own pavilion. (labiennale.org) The Guardian’s May 14 photo essay and other coverage this week used a different formulation, saying the Biennale involved participants from 99 countries. The discrepancy appears to reflect a difference between counting countries and counting official national participations, which the Biennale treats as a separate category in its own materials. (labiennale.org) ### What is “In Minor Keys,” and who is behind it? Koyo Kouoh was named artistic director of the Visual Arts Department in November 2024 and had already developed the curatorial project before her death in May 2025, according to the Biennale. The organization said she had defined the exhibition’s framework, selected artists and works, designated catalogue authors and shaped the exhibition spaces. (theguardian.com) The Biennale said on May 9 that “In Minor Keys” would run from May 9 to November 22, with pre-opening days on May 6, 7 and 8. The event’s homepage says the exhibition is being carried out with the support of Kouoh’s family and according to the project as she conceived it. ### Why is Zhanna Kadyrova’s “Security Guarantees” drawing attention? Zhanna Kadyrova’s “Security Guarantees” is the Ukrainian Pavilion project at the 61st Biennale, curated by Ksenia Malykh and Leonid Marushchak and commissioned by Tetyana Berezhna, identified on the pavilion site as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for humanitarian policy and culture minister. (labiennale.org) The pavilion says the project addresses unfulfilled security guarantees linked to Ukraine’s decision to give up its nuclear arsenal in the 1990s. The pavilion site says the core of the exhibition is Kadyrova’s sculpture “The Origami Deer,” first installed in 2019 in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, on a site where a dismantled Soviet nuclear-capable jet once stood. In 2024, as the front line approached, Kadyrova and others evacuated the sculpture from Pokrovsk, according to the pavilion. The Guardian’s May 14 gallery highlighted the work as one of the first pieces greeting visitors. (ukrainianpavilion.org) Other recaps of opening week also singled it out as a prominent image from the Biennale. ### What were the other opening-week scenes people were talking about? The Guardian’s May 14 gallery described “wildest moments” from the festival, including Pussy Riot protests, giant bells and jet-ski performances. (ukrainianpavilion.org) Hyperallergic, CNN, Sky News and other outlets reported that Pussy Riot and FEMEN protested at the Russian Pavilion on May 6 over Russia’s participation, the first since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. (theguardian.com) Dazed and other coverage from opening week also pointed to performance works involving human bells and other theatrical staging across national pavilions. The Biennale itself said on May 6 that the opening week included a “vibrant Performance programme.” ### Where can visitors go, and what happens next? The Biennale homepage says the 61st International Art Exhibition runs at the Giardini and Arsenale venues, in various locations across Venice and at Forte Marghera, through Sunday, November 22. (theguardian.com) The information page says summer hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May to September, with extended Friday and Saturday hours at the Arsenale through the end of September. The Biennale said on April 30 that the awards ceremony for its newly established Visitors’ Lions will take place on November 22. (dazeddigital.com) The same site said voting procedures for those prizes were published on May 10, alongside a report of about 10,000 visitors on opening day, up 10% from 2024. (labiennale.org)