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The 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale 2026, titled In Minor Keys, will be held from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with pre-openings on May 7, 8, and 9 in the traditional venues of the Arsenal Gardens, as well as across various locations throughout Venice.
The title and curatorial vision, originally set to be unveiled on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, were instead announced earlier that morning, following the sudden and premature death of curator Koyo Kouoh on May 10. Her passing moved the global art and cultural community deeply. The Biennale has chosen to carry out the exhibition according to the plan she conceived, preserving her spirit and vision intact—realizing the idea that the curator remains present, even in absence.
The exhibition will be realized as Koyo Kouoh imagined it, with contributions from professionals she directly involved: Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Helene Pereira, and Rasha Salti, editor-in-chief Siddhartha Mitter, and assistant Rory Tsapayi. It draws on music and its minor keys—symbols of emotion, melancholy, but also of hope, consolation, and transcendence. The exhibition is conceived as an invitation to slow down and tune into the subtler, quieter frequencies of the world, to hear the whispers and signals of a planet often overwhelmed by daily chaos.
In Minor Keys unfolds as an open and dynamic collective score, made up of artistic practices that open portals and regenerate collective imagination. The participating artists act as voices that, like in a free jazz ensemble, blend cohesion and dissonance, creating a sensory and communal experience. The curatorial project is rooted in the idea of deep listening to "minor keys"—not just as musical structures but as metaphors for inner and social worlds often in the shadows. It embodies a radical reconnection to art’s original role: to evoke emotion, forge relationships, and renew the senses.
The approach of In Minor Keys aims to highlight how artistic practices can serve as tools of resilience and social transformation. Artists become catalysts for radical change, listening to and giving voice to the planet's less audible, subtler frequencies. Minor Keys is envisioned as a multisensory and meditative experience—a journey through inner and outer worlds, an invitation to wonder, reflect, and dream. It offers a vision of art as a space of care and connection, one that resists the logic of relentlessly accelerating productivity, instead whispering a call to attune to the frequencies of minor keys.
In conclusion, the 61st Venice Biennale, with In Minor Keys, stands as an ode to art's ability to speak to our deepest emotions, to build community, and to nourish hope. This edition, honoring Kouoh's memory, invites us all to listen to the minor keys—those less audible tones that are essential to a collective rebirth.
>>> For more: Koyo Kouoh, Curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale Arte
Cover Image by Mehdi Benkler, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
