Art Biennale 2026, a first look at the Pavilions/2

The map of contemporary visions at the 61st International Art Exhibition is beginning to take shape through the projects of the national pavilions. From the fluid-body performance in the Austrian Pavilion to Estonia’s real-time painting, from France’s anthropological investigations to Finland’s exploration of microbiomes and technology, and finally to stories of identity, vulnerability, and memory in Great Britain, Kosovo, Luxembourg, and Pakistan, the result is a panorama where art and social issues merge into unprecedented languages.

AUSTRIA PAVILION – Florentina Holzinger

Florentina Holzinger, a Viennese artist and choreographer born in 1986, will represent Austria with a project curated by Nora-Swantje Almes, head of live programs and outreach at Berlin’s Gropius Bau. Starting from the Pavilion in the Giardini and extending across various sites in the city, the exhibition unfolds as a radical and provocative exploration of the interactions between body, water, and technology, continuing the cycle of experimental performances, Études, that Holzinger has been developing since 2020.

ESTONIA PAVILION – Merike Estna

Estonia will be represented by painter Merike Estna with The House of Leaking Sky, curated by Natalia Sielewicz, chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Living in Venice with her family for the entire duration of the Biennale, the artist will transform the exhibition space into an open studio, creating her paintings in real time in front of visitors, intertwining artistic practice with caregiving, and questioning the boundaries between the everyday and the extraordinary, individual genius and shared life.

FRANCE PAVILION – Yto Barrada

According to curator Myriam Ben Salah, director of the Renaissance Society in Chicago, Yto Barrada is “an inexhaustible source of micro-stories.” Born in Paris in 1971 to Moroccan origins, the artist investigates diverse fields through photography, ranging from play in alternative pedagogies to botany in urban projects, and even the trade of dinosaur fossils. Her research weaves together colonial anthropology, Pan-Africanism, and cultural policies, constructing a critical reflection on systems of power and knowledge.

FINLAND PAVILION – Jenna Sutela

Jenna Sutela, a Finnish artist based in Berlin, has exhibited at numerous prestigious international institutions, including the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva, the Swiss Institute in New York, and the Serpentine in London. For this occasion, she will present a continuously evolving installation in which sculptures, sounds, and organisms interact with microbiomes and planetary ecosystems. Curated by Stefanie Hessler, director of the Swiss Institute in New York, the exhibition invites reflection on the dynamic relationships between nature, technology, and society.

GREAT BRITAIN PAVILION – Lubaina Himid

One of the pioneers of the Black British Art Movement, Lubaina Himid has for decades brought Black history and culture into the space of contemporary art, intertwining themes such as race, feminism, and colonial memory. Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Lancashire and winner of the 2017 Turner Prize, Himid works in a field where historical research and storytelling merge into a vibrant, layered language that makes long-marginalized cultural identities visible. The project is curated by Emma Dexter, Director of Visual Arts at the British Council.

KOSOVO PAVILION – Brilant Milazimi

Chosen for the strength of its painterly language and its ability to translate emotional and political tensions into ambiguous and powerful images, Brilant Milazimi’s project Strong Teeth explores themes such as waiting, vulnerability, and suspension, reflecting both individual dimensions and broader geopolitical contexts. Curated by José Esparza Chong Cuy, the pavilion will be hosted in the long-abandoned spaces of the Church of Santa Maria del Pianto. Born in 1994 in Gjilan, Milazimi is among the most promising voices of Kosovo’s new generation.

LUXEMBOURG PAVILION – Aline Bouvy

Curated by Stilbé Schroeder, Aline Bouvy’s project La merde reflects Luxembourg’s approach to presenting a critical and provocative language within contemporary art, engaging with universal questions of the body, space, and social power. Through an anthropomorphic excrement – puppet, animation, and physical presence – subjected to the collective judgment of visitors, the artist explores shame as a social mechanism, revealing how bodies and behaviors are classified, tolerated, or excluded.

PAKISTAN PAVILION – Faiza Butt

Born in Lahore in 1973, Faiza Butt has developed a practice spanning painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, and embroidery, focusing in particular on themes related to gender, women’s labor, and historically marginalized art forms. Her project for Venice, Punj•AB – A Sublime Terrain, curated by Beatriz Cifuentes Feliciano, is a poetic and political exploration of the Punjab region, depicted as a fragmented yet resilient landscape where memory, spirituality, everyday gestures, and women’s voices continue to preserve and transform a shared heritage.

Featured image: Central Pavilion, Giardini – Ph. Andrea Avezzù – Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia