The Venice Biennale announced that next year’s edition will follow the vision of its curator, Koyo Kouoh, who died of cancer last month, just days before she was set to share its theme. Titled ‘In Minor Keys’, the 61st International Art Exhibition will be curated by Kouoh’s team ‘just as she conceived and defined it, preserving […] the work she pursued with such dedication to the very end’, the Biennale stated. Full details of the Biennale, including the list of artists in the central exhibition and the list of participating countries, will be announced on 25 February 2026.
61st Venice Biennale
At Kouoh’s request, the Biennale, titled “In Minor Keys,” will take place as planned from May 9 to November 22, 2026. Kouoh’s vision for the exhibition will be brought to life by a team of five people selected and working with him. The team includes curators Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, and Rasha Salti; critic and Biennale editor Siddhartha Mitter; and researcher Rory Tsapayi (as an assistant to the team).
Biennale officials held a press conference in Venice on May 27 to share with the public the direction the Biennale will take following Kouoh. Speaking at the meeting, Beckhurst Feijoo emphasized that the Biennale would not be “a chain of comments on the crises in the world, nor an escape from these crises,” but rather, in line with Koyo Kouoh’s wishes, would offer a “radical reorientation toward the social nature and natural environment of art through an emotional, visual, intuitive, and subjective connection.” All details, including the artists and countries participating in the Venice Biennale, as well as the Biennale’s graphic identity and exhibition design, will be announced on February 25, 2026.
