The Venice Biennale, the oldest art biennial, is back after being delayed a year due to the pandemic—and it is seemingly as jam-packed with artists as ever. To help you get your head around who is showing where, we have brought together all the national pavilions and artists.
• Venice Biennale: 59th International Art Exhibition, Giardini, Arsenale and various venues around Venice, 23 April-27 November 2022
Albanian pavilion Photo: Riccardo Tosetto
Albania
Artist: Lumturi Blloshmi
Organisers: Adela Demetja; Ministry of Culture of Albania
Where: Arsenale
Mónica Heller Courtesy of Piedras
Argentina
Artist: Mónica Heller
Organisers: Alejo Ponce de León
Where: Arsenale
Armenian pavilion Photo: Claudio Fleitas
Armenia
Artist: Andrius Arutiunian
Organisers: Anne Davidian, Elena Sorokina; Arayik Khzmalyan
Where: Castello 2125, Campo Tana
Marco Fusinato performing for his DESASTRES (2022) installaition at the Australia pavilion Photo: Andrea Rossetti
Australia
Artist: Marco Fusinato
Organisers: Alexie Glass-Kantor; Australia Council
Where: Giardini
The Australian pavilion will be filled with the sounds of electric guitar for almost 200 days as Marco Fusinato performs a marathon durational work called Desastres (disasters in Spanish). It sounds like it will be quite the feat of endurance and, unlike many performances that are pared back after the opening week, it will take place each day for the duration of the Biennale. The work is partly inspired by Goya’s The Disasters of War series (1810-20), which chronicled the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars, and by the events of the past couple of years. According to a press release, the artist will use his guitar to “improvise slabs of noise, saturated feedback and discordant intensities”. Do not expect sunny Aussie pop tunes.
• For more on this pavilion, see 'Most people won't like my work': Marco Fusinato, artist representing Australia at the Venice Biennale, reveals pavilion plans and The gossip from the Venice Biennale: Tinie Tempah takes on Tintoretto and totes too many totes
Jakob Lena Knebl and Ashley Hans Scheirl with the curator Karola Kraus
Photo: Christian Benesch
Austria
Artists: Jakob Lena Knebl and Ashley Hans Scheirl
Organisers: Karola Kraus; Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport
Where: Giardini
Sabiha Khankishiyeva's Dragon © ugo carmeni
Azerbaijan
Artists: Zhuk (Narmin Israfilova), Infinity, Ramina Saadatkhan, Fidan Novruzova, Fidan Akhundova, Sabiha Khankishiyeva and Agdes Baghirzade
Organisers: Emin Mammadov; Mammad Ahmadzada
Where: Procuratie Vecchie, San Marco 153/a/139
Bangladesh
Artists: Jamal Uddin Ahmed, Mohammad Iqbal, Harun-Ar-Rashid, Sumon Wahed, Promity Hossain, Mohammad Eunus, Marco Cassar, Franco Marrocco and Giuseppe Diego Spinelli
Organisers: Viviana Vannucci; Liaquat Ali Lucky
Where: Palazzo Rossini, San Marco 4013
Installation view of Francis Alÿs's The Nature of the Game in the Belgium pavilion Photo: Roberto Ruiz
Belgium
Artist: Francis Alÿs
Organisers: Hilde Teerlinck; Jan Jambon
Where: Giardini
Play can be a serious business. The Antwerp-born, Mexico-based artist Francis Alÿs, who represents Belgium at this year’s Biennale, has been investigating and documenting human behaviour through the medium of children’s games for more than 20 years. “Recording them has become a way of seeing through the patterns people live by,” says the pavilion’s curator, Hilde Teerlinck. “Some games are specific to a particular local or cultural tradition, but most are played around the world. This gives the work its universal character.” Twelve new games filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Canada, Iraq and Hong Kong will be shown in the pavilion along with a series of paintings from 1994 to 2021, which outline the context in which some of the films were made. “From Kabul to Ciudad Juárez, from Jerusalem to Shanghai, [the paintings] testify to Alÿs’s unmistakable poetic sensitivity to social and political issues,” Teerlinck says.
• For more on this pavilion, see The best of the Venice Biennale: our critics’ review
Bolivia
Artists: Warmichacha
Organisers: Warmichacha; Roberto Aguilar Quisbert
Where: Artspace4rent, Cannaregio 4120
Jonathas de Andrade in the Brazilian pavilion Courtesy Ding Musa / Fundação Bienal de São Paulo
Brazil
Artist: Jonathas de Andrade
Organisers: Jacopo Crivelli Visconti; José Olympio da Veiga Pereira, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo
Where: Giardini
Michail Michailov immersed in Headspacing, part of his exhibition There You Are at the Bulgarian pavilion © Photo: Kalin Serapionov
Bulgaria
Artist: Michail Michailov
Organisers: Irina Batkova; Iara Boubnova
Where: Spazio Rav, San Polo 1100
Jorge R Pombo's Variazione del 'Salvator Mundi' di Leonardo da Vinci (2022)
Cameroon
Artists: Francis Nathan Abiamba (Afran), Angéle Etoundi Essamba, Justine Gaga, Salifou Lindou, Shay Frisch, Umberto Mariani, Matteo Mezzadri, Jorge R. Pombo; NFT work (Kevin Abosch, João Angelini, Marco Bertìn (Berxit), Cryptoart Driver, Lana Denina, Alberto Echegaray Guevara, Genesis People, Joachim Hildebrand, Meng Huang, Eduardo Kac, Giulia Kosice, Julio Le Parc, Marina Nuñez, Miguel Soler-Roig, Miguel Ángel Vidal, Burkhard von Harder, Gabe Weis, Clark Winter, Shavonne Wong, Wang Xing, Alessandro Zannier, ZZH)
Organisers: Paul Emmanuel Loga Mahop and Sandro Orlandi Stagl
Where: Liceo Artistico Guggenheim and Palazzo San Bernardo
Stan Douglas Photo: © Evaan Kheraj. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner
Canada
Artist: Stan Douglas
Organisers: Reid Shier; National Gallery of Canada
Where: Giardini and Magazzini del Sale n5
Stan Douglas’s dual-screen video work Doppelgänger was a highlight of the Biennale’s main exhibition in 2019. This year the artist is representing his home country in the Canadian pavilion. His works, in photography, video, installation and theatre, are often concerned with historical enactment or showing an alternative story.
• For more on this pavilion, see Venice Biennale 2022: the must-see pavilions in the Giardini
Lara Fluxà's LLIM in the Catalonia pavilion Photo: Violeta Mayoral
Catalonia
Artist: Lara Fluxà
Organisers: Oriol Fondevila; Institut Ramon Llull
Where: Docks Cantieri Cucchini, Ramo del Zoccolo, Castello 40
The artists Ariel Bustamante, Carla Macchiavello, Dominga Sotomayor and Alfredo Thiermann are making a work about peatlands for the Chile pavilion Photo: Dominga Sotomayor, Karukinka Natural Park, 2022
Chile
Artists: Ariel Bustamante, Carla Macchiavello, Dominga Sotomayor, Alfredo Thiermann
Organisers: Camila Marambio; Ximena Moreno
Where: Arsenale
Unsexy but essential, peatlands are the new frontline in the fight against climate change. They are drying out and being destroyed around the world, going from being carbon sinks to carbon emitters. A project in Chile’s pavilion seeks to find new ways to conserve peatlands, rooted in the ancestral knowledge of the indigenous Selk’nam people of Patagonia.
• For more on this pavilion, see Venice Biennale 2022: the must-see pavilions in the Arsenale
China
Artists: Liu Jiayu, Wang Yuyang and Xu Lei
Organisers: Zhang Zikang; China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd.
Where: Arsenale
The curator of the Croatian pavilion Elena Filipovic and the artist Tomo Savić-Gecan Photo: Jasenko Rasol
Croatia
Artist: Tomo Savić-Gecan
Organisers: Elena Filipovic; Ministry of Culture and Media
Where: via Garibaldi
Cuba
Artists: Rafael Villares, Kcho and Giuseppe Stampone
Organisers: Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde; Norma Rodriguez Derivet
Where: Isola di San Servolo
Uffe Isolotto's We Walked the Earth installaion in the Danish pavilion © Ugo Carmeni
Denmark
Artist: Uffe Isolotto
Organisers: Jacob Lillemose
Where: Giardini
Egypt
Artist: Weaam Ahmed El-Masry, Mohamed Shoukry and Ahmed El-Shaer
Organisers: Ministry of Culture
Where: Giardini
Bita Razavi, Corina Apostol andKristina Norman. Photo: Dénes Farkas/CCA Estonia
Estonia
Artists: Kristina Norman and Bita Razavi
Organisers: Corina L. Apostol; Maria Arusoo, Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art
Where: Giardini (Dutch pavilion)
• For more on this pavilion, see Estonian pavilion: Baltic country gets its chance to bloom
Pilvi Takala Photo: Ugo Carmeni, Frame Contemporary Art Finland
Finland
Artist: Pilvi Takala
Organisers: Christina Li; Frame: Contemporary Art Finland
Where:Giardini
What do a wellness consultant, a marketing trainee at Deloitte and Snow White have in common? They have all been impersonated by the Finnish artist Pilvi Takala in her documentary-style works. For her pavilion commission, Close Watch, Takala became a fully qualified security guard, working for six months at one of Finland’s largest shopping centres for the security company Securitas. Her video installation will be based on workshops she carried out afterwards exploring some of the issues raised by the job, including what it means for the state to hand over roles of power to private companies and who is carrying out these roles. “I’m interested in how control is enforced within the private security industry, and how we ultimately govern each other’s behaviour,” Takala says.
• For more on this pavilion, see Finnish pavilion: The artist who became an undercover security guard
The artist Zineb Sedira and the curator Yasmina Reggad outside the French pavilion © Thierry Bal
France
Artist: Zineb Sedira
Organisers: Yasmina Reggad and artReoriented (Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath); Institut Français, French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and the French Ministry of Culture
Where: Giardini
Zineb Sedira is the first artist of Algerian descent to be selected to represent France at the Venice Biennale. This year will mark the 60th anniversary of Algerian independence from France, and Sedira’s presentation in the pavilion will focus on Algerian cinema of the 1960s and 1970s and its links to the Italian and French film industries.
• For more on this pavilion, see Zineb Sedira reveals plans for pavilion focused on activist filmmaking and Sonia Boyce's British pavilion wins Venice Biennale's coveted Golden Lion for best national exhibition
Mariam Natroshvili and Detu Jincharadze
Georgia
Artists: Mariam Natroshvili and Detu Jincharadze
Organisers: In-between Conditions (Vato Urushadze, Khatia Tchokhonelidze and Giorgi Spanderashvili); Magda Guruli
Where: Spazio Punch, Fondamenta S. Biagio, 800/o
Maria Eichhorn Photo: Jens Ziehe
Germany
Artist: Maria Eichhorn
Organisers: Yilmaz Dziewior
Where: Giardini
6. Afroscope's Ashe Sunsum Kasa (2022) at the Ghana pavilion Photo © David Levene
Ghana
Artist: Na Chainkua Reindorf, Afroscope and Diego Araúja
Organisers: Nana Oforiatta Ayim; Akwasi Agyeman, Ministry of Tourism, Arts And Culture
Where: Arsenale
• For more on this pavilion, see Ghanaian pavilion: returning country's presentation to spill out across Venice and The best of the Venice Biennale: our critics’ review
Sonia Boyce in her installation at the British pavilion Photo: Cristiano Corte © British Council
Great Britain
Artist: Sonia Boyce
Organisers: Emma Ridgway; Emma Dexter, British Council
Where: Giardini
The British artist Sonia Boyce won the Golden Lion award for best national pavilion at the Venice Biennale for her installation titled Feeling Her Way, which features a chorus of Black female voices set against tessellating wallpaper and golden geometric objects.
• For more on this pavilion, see Sonia Boyce's British pavilion wins Venice Biennale's coveted Golden Lion for best national exhibition, Sonia Boyce on being the first Black female artist to represent the UK at the Biennale and The best of the Venice Biennale: our critics’ review
A still from Loukia Alavanou's On The Way to Colonus (2020) © Loukia Alavanou
Greece
Artist: Loukia Alavanou
Organisers: Giannis Arvanitis and Heinz Peter Schwerfel; National Gallery
Where: Giardini
The Greek artist Loukia Alavanou has created a virtual reality (VR) film titled On The Way to Colonus, based on the ancient Athenian play Oedipus in Colonus by Sophocles. The artist asked members of a Roma community living on the outskirts of Athens to act out scenes from the play, drawing parallels between Oedipus being outcast from the city of Thebes and the mistreatment of the Roma people by the local authorities.
Empathy of Place (2021) by Asher Mains, one of the Cypher Art Collective of Grenada Photo courtesy of the artist
Grenada
Artist: Cypher Art Collective of Grenada (Oliver Benoit, Billy Gerard Frank, Ian Friday, Asher Mains, Susan Mains, Angus Martin and Samuel Ogilvie)
Organisers: Daniele Radini
Where: Il Giardino Bianco
Guatemala
Artist: Chrispapita (Christian Escobar)
Organisers: Felipe Amado Aguilar Marroquin
Where: Spuma, Space For The Arts, Giudecca 800/R
Angela Su Photo: Winnie Yeung, Visual Voices; Courtesy of M+, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Artist: Angela Su
Organisers: Freya Chou; M+ Museum and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Where: Campo della Tana, Castello
The artist Zsófia Keresztes and the curator Mónika Zsikla at the Hungarian pavilion
Hungary
Artist: Zsófia Keresztes
Organisers: Mónika Zsikla; Julia Fabényi
Where: Giardini
Sigurður Guðjónsson's Perpetual Motion in the Icelandic pavilion Courtesy of the artist and BERG Contemporary, Photos: Ugo Carmeni
Iceland
Artist: Sigurður Guðjónsson
Organisers: Mónica Bello; Icelandic Art Center
Where: Arsenale
• For more on this pavilion, see Icelandic pavilion: The magnetic attraction of light and sound
The artist Niamh O’Malley (centre) with curators Clíodhna Shaffrey and Michael Hill Courtesy of Temple Bar Gallery+Studios
Ireland
Artist: Niamh O’Malley
Organisers: Clíodhna Shaffrey and Michael Hill, Temple Bar Gallery+Studios; Culture Ireland and the Arts Council Ireland
Where: Arsenale
Ilit Azoulay in her Berlin studio Courtesy of the artist and Braverman Gallery
Israel
Artist: Ilit Azoulay
Organisers: Shelley Harten
Where: Giardini
The curator Eugenio Viola with the artist Gian Maria Tosatti at the Italian pavilion
Italy
Artist: Gian Maria Tosatti
Organisers: Eugenio Viola; Onofrio Cutaia, Ministero della Cultura
Where: Arsenale
• For more on this pavilion, see Venice Biennale 2022: the must-see pavilions in the Arsenale and Italian pavilion: ‘What is the future for humans?’ asks artist Gian Maria Tosatti
Ivory Coast
Artists: Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Abdoulaye Diarrassouba dit Aboudia, Armand Boua, Saint-Etienne Yéanzi dit Yeanzi, Laetitia Ky and Aron Demetz
Organisers: Massimo Scaringella and Alessandro Romanini; Henri Koffissé N'koumo
Where: Magazzino del Sale 3, Dorsoduro 264
The Japanese pavilion Photo: Yuki Seli, ©Dumb Type, Courtesy of The Japan Foundation
Japan
Artist: Dumb Type
Organisers: Japan Foundation
Where: Giardini
ORTA collective
Kazakhstan
Artist: ORTA collective
Organisers: Meruyert Kaliyeva
Where: Spazio Arco, Dorsoduro 1485
Kenya
Artist: TBC
Organisers: Jimmy Ogonga; Kiprop Lagat
Where: Zattere Gallery, Dorsoduro 46-48
Kosovo
Artist: Jakup Ferri
Organisers: Inke Arns; Alisa Gojani-Berisha
Where: Arsenale
Firouz FarmanFarmaian
Kyrgyzstan
Artist: Firouz FarmanFarmaian
Organisers: Janet Rady; Saltanat Abdyldaevna Amanova
Where: Hydro Space, Giudecca Art Center, Giudecca 211/C
Selling Water by the River (no.1.) (2022) by Skuja Braden © Skuja Braden (Ingūna Skuja and Melissa D. Braden). Photo: Kristīne Madjare
Latvia
Artist: Skuja Braden (Ingūna Skuja and Melissa D. Braden)
Organisers: Andra Silapētere; Solvita Krese, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Ministry of Culture
Where: Arsenale
Ayman Baalbaki and Danielle Arbid Photos: © Thierry Van Biesen and © Philippe Lebruman
Lebanon
Artist: Ayman Baalbaki and Danielle Arbid
Organisers: Nada Ghandour
Where: Arsenale
Lithuania
Artist: Robertas Narkus
Organisers: Neringa Bumblienė; Kęstutis Kuizinas
Where:Castello 3200 and 3206, Campo de le Gate
Luxembourg
Artist: Tina Gillen
Organisers: Christophe Gallois; Mudam Luxembourg
Where: Arsenale
Iao Hon Dynasty (2021) by “Yiima” Art Group © “Yiima” Art Group
Macao
Artist: YiiMa Art Group
Organisers: João Miguel Barros; Macao Museum of Art
Where: In front of the Arsenale, Campo della Tana, Castello 2126
Malta
Artist: Brian Schembri, Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci and Arcangelo Sassolino
Organisers: Keith Sciberras and Jeffrey Uslip; Arts Council Malta
Where: Arsenale
Mexico
Artist: Mariana Castillo Deball, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Fernando Palma Rodríguez and Santiago Borja Charles
Organisers: Catalina Lozano and Mauricio Marcin; Diego Sapién
Where: Arsenale
Journey through Vulnerability by Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav Photo: Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar
Mongolia
Artist: Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav
Organisers: Gantuya Badamgarav; Nomin Chinbat
Where: Castello 2131
Montenegro
Artists: Dante Buu, Lidija Delić & Ivan Šuković, Darko Vučković, Jelena Tomašević, Art Collection of Non-Aligned Countries
Organisers: Natalija Vujošević; Jelena Božović
Where: Palazzo Malipiero, San Marco 3078-3079/A, Ramo Malipiero
Namibia
Artist: “Renn”
Organisers: Marco Furio Ferrario; Marcellinus Swartbooi, Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture
Where: Isola della Certosa
The Nepal pavilion curators Hit Man Gurung and Sheelasha Rajbhandari, with the artist Tsherin Sherpa Photo: Chhiring Dorje Gurung, courtesy of the artists
Nepal
Artist: Tsherin Sherpa
Organisers: Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung
Where: Sant’anna Project Space One
Several nations will be making their Venice Biennale debut this year, many using the event as a way of countering stereotypical ideas of their countries. Nepal is no exception, as the organisers attempt to shake off the Shangri-La stereotype. “In contradiction to a mythical utopia—shrouded in happiness, longevity and bliss—is the reality of an intricately interconnected peoples who have repeatedly experienced displacement, loss and the insurmountable task of reconstituting their lives,” say the curators Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung. The Nepal pavilion artist Tsherin Sherpa, whose work typically plays with traditional iconography and techniques, will be collaborating with artists from around the country “to create a space to reflect and re-evaluate these biases”.
Big Spoon film still from When the body says Yes by Melanie Bonajo Courtesy of the artist
Netherlands
Artist: Melanie Bonajo
Organisers: Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg, Geir Haraldseth and Soraya Pol; Mondriaan Fund
Where: Chiesetta della Misericordia
In somewhat stereotypical liberal Dutch fashion, the Dutch pavilion’s pick Melanie Bonajo is not only an artist and film-maker, but also a “certified sexological bodyworker and somatic sex coach”. Bonajo will be creating an immersive video installation exploring the importance of touch and intimacy in an age of increasing digital-led isolation, which has only been intensified more recently by a disease that relies on proximity to propagate. After more than two years of social distancing, Bonajo’s work might be a very welcome hug that many people need (or perhaps not, depending on the severity of the pandemic at the time). Note, too, the exhibition—titled When the Body Says Yes—will be outside the Giardini, with the Netherlands’s usual spot being given over to Estonia this year.
Two Faʻafafine (After Gauguin) (2020] from the Paradise Camp series by Yuki Kihara Image courtesy of Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries, Aotearoa New Zealand
New Zealand
Artist: Yuki Kihara
Organisers: Caren Rangi and Natalie King; Creative New Zealand
Where: Arsenale
Themes of ecology, queer rights and decolonisation will be explored by the Pasifika artist Yuki Kihara in New Zealand’s pavilion. Kihara, who identifies as Fa’afafine, a third gender in Samoan culture, says that the presentation “is intended to camp the notion of paradise”. The show, playfully called Paradise Camp, will be made up of archival material coupled with photography and film shot on the paradisal Samoan island of Upolu.
North Macedonia
Artist: Robert Jankuloski
Organisers: Ana Frangovska; Dita Starova Qerimi, National Gallery of the Republic of North Macedonia
Where: TBC
Hassan Meer, one of the five artists representing Oman Image courtesy of the National Pavilion of the Sultanate of Oman
Oman
Artists: Anwar Sonya, Hassan Meer, Budoor Al Riyami, Radhika Khimji and Raiya Al Rawahi
Organisers: Sayyid Saeed Al Busaidi and Aisha Stoby
Where: Arsenale
Making its Venice Biennale debut, the Sultanate of Oman will be presenting the works of five artists covering the past 50 years of Omani contemporary art. The selection of artists is centred on a local collective called Circle Group, established in the late 1990s by Hassan Meer, and its subsequent series of group exhibitions.
Peru
Artist: Herbert Rodriguez
Organisers: Jorge Villarcorta; Armando Andrade
Where: Arsenale
Philippines
Artist: Gerardo Tan, Felicidad A. Prudente and Sammy N. Buhle
Organisers: Yael Buencamino Borromeo and Arvin Jason Flores
Where: Arsenale
The artist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas (centre) with the curators Wojciech Szymański and Joanna Warsza Photo: Daniel Rumiancew
Poland
Artist: Małgorzata Mirga-Tas
Organisers: Wojciech Szymański and Joanna Warsza; National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
Where: Giardini
Against a backdrop of rising nationalism, the Polish pavilion’s decision to select a Romani artist seems bolder than ever. According to the organisers, it is the first time that a Romani artist has been represented in a national pavilion and Małgorzata Mirga-Tas will be placing her heritage at the heart of the exhibition. The Polish-born artist is creating 12 textile works inspired by 15th-century frescoes in the Hall of the Months in Ferrara, which depict Olympian gods, pagan rituals and seasonal activities. Mirga-Tas’s textiles will show scenes from Roma history as well as Romani mythologies, coupled with more personal aspects of the artist’s life. The project’s title, Re-enchanting the World, reflects Mirga-Tas’s goal of reinserting one of Europe’s most marginalised groups of people back into a shared history.
Pedro Neves Marques's Autofiction (2020) Courtesy of the artist and Galleria Umberto Di Marino
Portugal
Artist: Pedro Neves Marques
Organisers: João Mourão and Luís Silva; Direção-Geral das Artes
Where: Palazzo Franchetti
Adina Pintilie in a still from her work You Are Another Me - A Cathedral of the Body Courtesy of the artist; Photo: George Chiper-Lillemark
Romania
Artist: Adina Pintilie
Organisers: Cosmin Costinas and Viktor Neumann; Attila Kim
Where: Giardini and Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research
The Russian pavilion in the Giardini, Venice
Russia - no longer participating
Artists: Kirill Savchenkov and Alexandra Sukhareva
Organisers: Raimundas Malašauskas
Where: Giardini
Following the the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, the artists Kirill Savchenkov and Alexandra Sukhareva, and the curator Raimundas Malašauskas have pulled out of representing Russia at the 59th Venice Biennale. Their decision means that there will be no official Russian representation and its pavilion will remain closed.
San Marino
Artists: Elisa Cantarelli, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Roberto Paci
Dalò, Endless, Michelangelo Galliani, Rosa Mundi, Mouna Rebeiz, Anne-Cécile Surga and Michele Tombolini
Organisers: Vincenzo Rotondo; Riccardo Varini
Where: Palazzo Donà Dalle Rose and Chiesa Anglicana di San Giorgio
Máret Ánne Sara, Anders Sunna and Pauliina Feodoroff Photo: Marta Buso, OCA
Sápmi (formerly Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, and Finland)
Artists: Pauliina Feodoroff, Máret Ánne Sara and Anders Sunna
Organisers: Katya García-Antón, Liisa-Rávná Finbog and Beaska Niillas; Office for Contemporary Art Norway
Where: Giardini
The Nordic pavilion has been renamed the Sámi pavilion for the 59th Venice Biennale and will show works by three artists from Sápmi, a region in northernmost Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia predating current national borders. The selection of artists and name change is “a symbolic reversal of colonial claims that have sought to erase Sámi land and culture,” according to statement from the organisers, the Office for Contemporary Art Norway.
Saudi Arabia
Artist: Muhannad Shono
Organisers: Reem Fadda; Visual Arts Commission, Ministry of Culture
Where: Arsenale
Scotland
Artist: Alberta Whittle
Organisers: Glasgow International; Scotland+Venice
Where: Arsenale Docks Cantieri Cucchini
Vladimir Nikolic and Biljana Ciric
Serbia
Artist: Vladimir Nikolic
Organisers: Biljana Ciric; Maja Kolaric, Museum of Contemporary Art
Where: Giardini
A film still of a censored 16th century edition of Petrarch Courtesy of Shubigi Rao
Singapore
Artist: Shubigi Rao
Organisers: Ute Meta Bauer; Rosa Daniel, National Arts Council Singapore
Where: Arsenale
Visitors to the Singapore pavilion will be able to lose themselves both figuratively in the books on display and literally, in a paper maze. The show is the latest iteration of a decade-long series by Rao that explores the destruction of books and libraries. Working with the architect Laura Miotto, Rao will create a maze-like installation at the heart of which will be 5,000 copies of her book Pulp III: A Short Biography of the Banished, which visitors can take away to read. Both the book and an accompanying film will look at Venice and Singapore as historical centres of printing.
Slovenia
Artist: Marko Jakše
Organisers: Robert Simonišek; Aleš Vaupotič
Where: Arsenale
South Africa
Artists: Roger Ballen, Lebohang Kganye and Phumulani Ntuli
Organisers: Amé Bell; Nosipho Nausca-Jean Ngcaba
Where: Arsenale
Yunchul Kim's Chroma III (2021) Courtesy of the artist
South Korea
Artist: Yunchul Kim
Organisers: Youngchul Lee; Arts Council Korea
Where: Giardini
Spain
Artist: Ignasi Aballí
Organisers: Beatriz Espejo
Where: Giardini
Latifa Echakhch Photo: Pro Helvetia/Keystone/Christian Beutler
Switzerland
Artist: Latifa Echakhch with Alexandre Babel
Organisers: Alexandre Babel and Francesco Stocchi; Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Where: Giardini
Syria
Artists: Saousan Al Zubi, Ismael Nasra, Adnan Hamideh, Omran Younis, Aksam Tallaa, Giuseppe Amadio, Marcello Lo Giudice and Lorenzo Puglisi
Organisers: Emad Kashout
Where: Isola di San Servolo
Taiwan
Artist: [New artist to be announced. See, Taiwan drops Venice Biennale pavilion artist over sexual assault accusations]
Organisers: Patrick Flores; Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Where:Palazzo delle Prigioni
Turkey
Artist: Füsun Onur
Organisers: Bige Örer; Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts
Where: Arsenale
Collin Sekajugo's Stock Image 013 - Engaged (2018/21) Photo: Maximilien de Dycker Ⓒ Collin Sekajugo Studio
Uganda
Artists: Acaye Kerunen and Collin Sekajugo
Organisers: Shaheen Merali; Naumo Juliana Akoryo
Where: Palazzo Palumbo Fossati, San Marco 259
Pavlo Makov and his work The Fountain of Exhaustion photograhed in 1996 © Pavlo Makov. Courtesy of the artist
Ukraine
Artist: Pavlo Makov
Organisers: Lizaveta German, Maria Lanko and Borys Filonenko; Kateryna Chuyeva, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
Where: Arsenale
Following the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, the organisers of the Ukrainian pavilion put their plans for the Venice Biennale on hold. However, according to the artist Pavlo Makov, his work was smuggled out the country on 26 February, making it possible that it may still be exhibited in Venice.
The curator Maya Allison and the Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim Courtesy National Pavilion UAE; Photo: Augustine Paredes
United Arab Emirates
Artist: Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Organisers: Maya Allison; Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation
Where: Arsenale
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim’s colourful papier-mâché sculptures look set to brighten up the UAE pavilion in the Arsenale. His show’s title, Between Sunrise and Sunset, is inspired by the changing light of the veteran artist’s hometown, Khor Fakkan. As he explains: “The show demonstrates the tension between Khor Fakkan’s colourful bright mornings, when the sun rises over the ocean, and the disappearance of colours in mid-afternoon, when the sun drops behind the mountains that loom over my hometown.” The biomorphic sculptures, inspired by the fantastical imagery in a children’s book by the Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, also tie in nicely with some of the Biennale’s main exhibition themes, such as “bodies and their metamorphoses”.
Simone Leigh in the studio © Simone Leigh. Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery. Photo: Shaniqwa Jarvis
United States
Artist: Simone Leigh
Organisers: Jill Medvedow and Eva Respini
Where: Giardini
The American sculptor Simone Leigh will be dedicating her exhibition at the US pavilion entirely “to the experiences and contributions of Black women,” says the pavilion’s co-curator Jill Medvedow. As well as the Chicagoan’s signature figurative sculptures of Black women—sculpted full size in clay before being cast in bronze—the commission will also include a three-day symposium about their overlooked histories and achievements. After the biennial, the presentation will travel to the ICA in Boston for Leigh’s first major US exhibition.
Uruguay
Artist: Gerardo Goldwasser
Organisers: Laura Malosetti Costa and Pablo Uribe; Silvana Bergson
Where: Giardini
Uzbekistan
Artistsl: Saodat Ismailova, Vyacheslav Useinov and Space Caviar
Organisers: Studio Space Caviar; Art and Culture Development Foundation
Where: Arsenale
Venezuela
Artists: Palmira Correa, César Vázquez, Mila Quast and Jorge Recio
Organisers: Zacarías García; Paola Claudia Posani Urdaneta
Where: Giardini
Zimbabwe
Artists: Wallen Mapondera, Ronald Muchatuta, Kresiah Mukwazhi and Terrence Musekiwa
Organisers: Fadzai Muchemwa; National Gallery of Zimbabwe