It is the minor tones that distinguish the 61st edition of the Venice Art Biennale, and the exhibition amply bears witness to this. Those Minor Keys desired by the Swiss-Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away exactly a year before "her" Biennale opened in the usual spaces of the Giardini and the Arsenale. In Venice, Koyo Kouoh's artistic legacy lives on, carried on by her staff after the curator's passing: her soul, the quality of the exhibition design and the selected works are there.
There are many worlds, hope and spirituality, provocation, a vision of the future, and beauty in the diverse art forms that distinguish this exhibition. In minor tones, but no less intense and effective, they speak to the visitor like the minor tones of music: intimate, profound, reflective.
And a i Minor Keys are the common thread of the artistic reviewThe 2026 Art Biennale opens in the midst of global chaos that has created the conditions for something entirely different: starting with the highly contested opening of the Russian Pavilion, the protests of dissident artists, Iran's non-participation, the resignation of the international jury that had initially decided to exclude Russia and Israel from the awards, and the postponement of the awards ceremony. Far from being a minor issue... it's rather a story of complicated years. And If minor tones prevail, at the 2026 Art Biennale current affairs also play its part.
Let's start from the very beginning discussed Russian Pavilion at the Gardens which reopened (four years after the invasion of Ukraine) but will close after the official opening of the exhibition. Beyond the political interpretation that has seen many protests and protests, the Pavilion has recently served as a stage for a collective that has performed music and songs. In a setting that resembles a fragrant and colorful flower shop. It is titled "The Tree Rooted in the Sky” and it was conceived by a group of young musicians, philosophers, and poets who present their work without names, as the fruit of a collective effort.
The actuality of the war is not far away, in that origami deer, of concrete, by Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova, suspended from a truck located right at the entrance to the Gardens Avenue. It is a symbol of Ukraine's recent history due to the events it has been involved in since it was installed in 2019 in a park in the city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region.
We cannot help but talk about it Israel Pavilion, this too contested and under heavy police surveillance in an unusual area: the venue in the Giardini is under renovation and the artist Belu-Simion Fainaru was welcomed at the Arsenale. Rose of Nothingness It is a highly evocative work, with several symbols, including, at the entrance, a Mezuzah and the Land of Israel in a pocket. The heart of the work is dark and solemn: water drips at a steady rhythm, interrupted by pauses, into a rectangular basin. This minimal gesture recalls the drip irrigation systems developed by Israel. And, between mysticism and ethical responsibility, it invites silence and reflection.
A Biennale to discover, from the Gardens to the Arsenale
Among the pills of an Art Biennale to be discovered, at the Gardens – perhaps the most iconic venue – the Australian Pavilion’s Minor Keys are the moving images of an octagonal work: sounds and colors dissolve and blur the boundaries between real and unreal in a dark, immersive environment.
Reflections on time, wear, and transformation distinguish the recently restored French Pavilion, dedicated to Saturn, the planet of melancholy and slow thinking. Artists were said to be born under its influence. Among curtains, devices, and transformed materials, light reigns supreme. The Austrian Pavilion is controversial and provocative, with interactions between the body—nude female figures—water, and technology. The Danish Pavilion, which addresses reproductive decline and artificial insemination, is equally controversial and well-visited.
In the Polish Pavilion, deafness becomes a cultural and cognitive resource in an installation involving a chorus of deaf and hearing performers, combining sign language, whale songs, and an underwater environment. The United States has chosen abstract and biomorphic sculptures to animate its venue, where works reminiscent of the geological formations of certain American landscapes are found.
A sensory experience in the British Pavilion, amidst the gurgling of water and the bleating of sheep. Sounds, texts, and images invite reflection on the meaning of home, even far from one's place of origin. What can we say about the Japanese Pavilion, which addresses the declining birth rate and child victims of war, bringing over a hundred dolls to the Biennale for visitors to interact with. We saw many young people having fun in this exhibition space, which aims to explore the concepts of family, identity, and diversity.
The visit to the Corderie of the Arsenale It's a long, colorful, immersive walk that, according to the curators, should feel like a procession: there's music, scents, plays of light, fresh flowers, elements that hark back to the Minor Keys, especially those of colonial art. Straw thrones that seem designed for shamanic rites and clay figurines, sculptures made from recycled materials, immersive installations like the one at the entrance by Khaled Sabsabi.
And again, disturbing terracotta shapes, red rooms, and painted fences reminiscent of mural art. Carrie Schneider's imposing work, a kilometer-long photographic reel that repeatedly reproduces the same image, is a fascinating sight.
Huge painted canvases hanging from the ceiling seem to silently dialogue, while the new installation is striking Garden of the Broken Hearted, between spirituality and poetry, by Theo Eshetu, an artist born in London but living in Rome.
Still at the Arsenale, don't miss the China Pavilion, featuring a robot that writes ideograms. And a projection of images of a Western great like Leonardo.
The Italian Pavilion
Finally, at the Tese delle Vergini, the Italian Pavilion: With you with everything, curated by Cecilia Canziani with the artist Chiara CamoniIt represents nature in its plastic dimension. In the first room, there is a forest of sculptures, minor deities inspired by trees and plants. They are made from recycled waste materials and natural elements.
The second room hosts a world under construction, with long spaces at the center offering visitors the opportunity to sit and gaze toward the Pavilion's exit and the evocative Garden of the Virgins, which changes with the changing seasons and seeks to connect bodies, works, nature, and the passage of time.
