As the art world descends on Venice for the most celebrated Biennale in the world, Lee Sharrock picks five highlights to see at the 61st la Biennale di Venezia.
With the theme In Minor Keys, conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who sadly passed away in 2025, la Biennale di Venezia runs from Saturday 9th May to Sunday 22nd November 2026 at the Giardini and the Arsenale venues, and in various locations around Venice.
With the full support of Koyo Kouoh’s family, La Biennale di Venezia decided to carry out her Exhibition. It will do so by following the project just as she conceived and defined it, to preserve, enhance and disseminate her ideas and the work she pursued.
Here are FAD’s fab five:
Marina Abramovic exhibition Transforming Energy at Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia
Internationally acclaimed artist Marina Abramovic will make history in 2026 as the first living woman artist to be honoured with a major exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. Marina Abramovi?: Transforming Energy, presented during the 61st Venice Biennale Arte, marks the artist’s 80th birthday and establishes a profound dialogue between her pioneering performance art and the Renaissance masterpieces that have shaped the cultural identity of Venice. Curated by Shai Baitel, Artistic Director of the Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai, in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition unfolds across both the museum’s permanent collection galleries and its temporary exhibition spaces — a first in the institution’s history — embedding Abramovic’s practice within the very heart of Venetian patrimony.
Marina Abramovic: Transforming Energy is at the Gallerie dell’Accademia from 6th May to 19th October, 2026.
The Ear is the Eye of the Soul at The Holy See Pavilion
The Pavilion of the Holy See returns to the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2026 with a deeply contemplative project titled The Ear is the Eye of the Soul. Featuring an eclectic mix of artists and musicians, including Patti Smith, Brian Eno, Jim Jarmusch, Laraaji, Moor Mother, FKA Twigs and Precious Okoyomo. Presented by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, this ambitious exhibition brings together 24 artists in a multisensory exploration inspired by the life and legacy of Hildegard of Bingen.
Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers in collaboration with Soundwalk Collective, the Pavilion unfolds across two historic Venetian sites, transforming them into spaces of listening, reflection, and spiritual resonance.
The Holy See exhibition has been conceived in response to the late Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh’s theme ‘In Minor Keys’.
The Holy See Pavilion is at the Giardino Mistico dei Carmelitani Scalzi, Cannaregio, and Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello.
Lubaina Himid Predicting History: Testing Translation at the British Pavilion
A new series of large, multipaneled paintings of dazzling colours, showing surreal and magical settings, exemplifies Himid’s artistic approach. She acts as both writer and performance director, establishing characters, crafting narratives, imagining dialogues and, in collaboration with artist Magda Stawarska, creates a surreal soundscape. The exhibition makes tangible the daily tensions of how to belong.
Embracing the British Pavilion’s neo-classical architecture, Himid represents Britain as somewhere welcoming and airy, brimming with potential, albeit with an underlying sense of unease as the sounds, texts and images subtly introduce tension.
Lubaina Himid CBE RA (b. 1954, Zanzibar) is a world-renowned British artist, known for a pioneering practice which addresses themes of race, history, feminism, cultural memory and identity. She frequently employs storytelling and historical research to challenge dominant Eurocentric narratives and highlight the overlooked contributions of Black figures in Western history.
Lubaina Himid, Predicting History: Testing Translation, is at the British Pavilion in the Giardini from 9th May to 22nd November 2026.
Arch Hades Return | Ritorno
Return | Ritorno is an exhibition of new large-scale works by artist and poet Arch Hades, unfolding across three floors of the Scoletta Battioro e Tiraoro di Venezia, a decommissioned church on the Grand Canal in Venice.
The signature precision and composure of Arch Hades’ work is central to Return | Ritorno, a creatively ambitious exhibition where site-specific painting, immersive sculpture and an installation soundscape meet, resulting in a glimpse into the artist’s ethereal interior world. Hades is part philosopher, part painter and her ability to veer with such agility between art and literature demonstrates both vulnerability and restraint. Hades’ debut Venice Biennale solo exhibition is an important step on her journey of exploring the human psyche through words and visuals.
Arch Hades, Return | Ritorno is at the Scoletta Battioro e Tiraoro di Venezia from 7th May until,. November 2026. Supported by Erarta Foundation.
Jenny Savile at Ca’ Pesaro
The International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca’ Pesaro returns to contemporary voices with an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to one of the most important painters of our time, Jenny Saville. This is the first major exhibition of Saville’s work in Venice and aims to document the development of her work by tracing her career from her beginnings in the 1990’s to the present day.
The exhibition curated by Elisabetta Barisoni at Ca’ Pesaro presents Saville’s work through over 30 paintings and drawings, including many seminal works from the past few decades. Saville’s practice is deeply rooted in the history of painting, and at Ca’ Pesaro, her monumental canvases engage in dialogue with the great painters of the past in Venice, creating a unique encounter between contemporary painting and the city’s artistic heritage. Saville’s relationship with the masters of the past – particularly the Italians – centres on the strong connection she continues to maintain with the Venetian School of painting. The final room of the exhibition presents a previously unseen cycle of works created by the artist in homage to Venice for Ca’ Pesaro. The exhibition becomes a sublime celebration of the strength and power of Saville’s love of and devotion to painting, while also serving as an intimate and grand tribute to the city of Venice, confirming the city’s role as a living centre of cultural innovation.
Jenny Savile at Ca’ Pesaro runs until 22 November, 2026.
