Every two years, Venice hosts the Biennale d’Arte—the world’s largest and longest-running international art exhibition. Sometimes called the Art Olympics, the Biennale is made up of dozens of competing national pavilions, alongside two large-scale group shows put together by a guest curator. Programmed to coincide with this are hundreds more exhibitions, performances and interventions that turn the city into a unique cultural phenomenon.
The Venice Biennale is the art world’s most storied stage. From a performance pioneer making history to a feminist icon debuting new work, below (in no particular order!) is my pick of some of the women telling the most inspiring and powerful stories this year.
THE WOMEN OF VENICE BIENNALE 2026
LUBAINA HIMID AT THE BRITISH PAVILION
Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid transforms the British Pavilion into a beautiful meditation on belonging. Predicting History: Testing Translation brings together vibrant large-scale multi-panel paintings, with works on found objects, ‘kanga’ paintings, and a soundscape made in collaboration with artist Magda Stawarska.
Himid, who was born in Tanzania and raised in the UK, describes the exhibition as “a guide to navigating life beyond one’s roots and to understanding what home can mean”. In that context, the neo-classical architecture of the pavilion, which opened in 1909 at the height of the British Empire, seems the perfect site to reflect on questions of national and personal identities, and what it means to make a home in a new place.
Giardini della Biennale, Sestiere Castello, Venice
Until 22 November 2026. The British Pavilion is commissioned by the British Counil. Following Venice, the exhibition tours select UK venues.
www.arts.britishcouncil.org/projects/british-pavilion-venice-biennale
JENNY SAVILLE AT CA’ PESARO
British painter Jenny Saville’s first major exhibition in Venice traces her practice from the 1990s to the present. The show brings together more than thirty canvases and works on paper, including new pieces created in homage to the city, alongside some of Saville’s most recognisable early nudes, which revitalised figurative painting while raising questions about societal perceptions of the body.
Saville’s practice is deeply rooted in the history of painting—Venetian painting in particular has become an essential reference for the artist. Placed here on the Grand Canal, in conversation with masters of Venice’s past, her work feels very much at home.
Ca' Pesaro, International Gallery of Modern Art, Santa Croce 2076, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
www.capesaro.visitmuve.it
DANA AWARTANI AT THE SAUDI ARABIA PAVILION
Dana Awartani’s May your tears never dry, you who weep over stones, throws focus onto cultural heritage under threat. The artist invites visitors into an imaginary archaeological site, inspired by historically and materially important mosaics from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, whose shared motifs and traditions highlight common cultures spanning three millennia.
The work covers the entire pavilion floor and comprises 29,000 handmade bricks, made in collaboration with 32 master craftspeople over 30,000 hours. Fabricated without binding agents, the bricks crack as they dry, representing the fragility of places across the world that have suffered devastating damage through man-made conflict and violence.
The presentation is curated by Antonia Carver, the UK-born Director of Art Jameel in Dubai and Saudi Arabia and, as with much of the work she has a hand in, it stayed with me long after I left it.
Arsenale, Sestiere Castello, Campo Della Tana 2169/F, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
www.saudipavilion.org
KATE MCCGWIRE AT FONDAZIONE DRIES VAN NOTEN
The inaugural exhibition from Fondazione Dries Van Noten, The Only True Protest Is Beauty comprises more than 200 works of art, design, jewellery, and fashion—including stunning archive pieces from Comme des Garçons and Christian Lacroix—and explores beauty as a force for provocation and transformation. The title comes from one of American writer Phil Ochs’ 60s activist anthems, “In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty” —the concept being that beauty can be unsettling, awakening and rejuvenating.
Despite this context, the title didn’t sit entirely comfortably with me. However, I could very comfortably spend hours in the exhibition—an extraordinary celebration of craftsmanship across disciplines, exquisitely curated by Dries Van Noten himself. Amongst many highlights are Stifle and Murmur—two pieces by British sculptor Kate MccGwire, known for creating mesmerising ‘three-dimensional paintings’ using the feathers of common birds.
Fondazione Dries Van Noten, San Polo, 2766, Venezia
Until 4 October 2026
www.fondazionedriesvannoten.org
NALINI MALANI AT KIRAN NADAR MUSEUM OF ART IN VENICE
For the second edition running, Kiran Nadar—arguably India’s most influential collector and founder of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art—presents a large-scale immersive work in Venice. This year, legendary artist Nalini Malani’s Of Woman Born transforms a former salt warehouse into a “thought chamber” filled with 67 animations made from over 30,000 iPad drawings, accompanied by a 20-minute soundscape of women’s voices.
The work is inspired by the Greek myth of Orestes, who murdered his mother and her lover in revenge for them killing his father. Though pursued by the Furies, Orestes was saved from punishment by the goddess Athena. Here, Malani meditates on this myth and its resonance with present-day wars, where accountability is rare and women continue to bear the brunt of patriarchal violence.
Magazzini del Sale n° 5, Fondamenta Zattere Ai Saloni, Dorsoduro 262, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
www.knma.org
FLORA YUKHNOVICH AT VICTORIA MIRO VENICE
Currently on show at the Venice outpost of British gallery Victoria Miro, London-based Flora Yukhnovich is one of the most compelling painters working today. Her exhibition Egg is inspired by storytelling: myths, Biblical accounts and fairy tales, particularly those that feature fantastical conceptions and births.
Yukhnovich’s paintings are at once dreamy and unsettling and, hung against a large mural she has painted on site, they take on an almost ancient or mythical feel. One can easily imagine these works living on the walls of the gods and (wo)men whose legends they take inspiration from.
Victoria Miro Venice, San Marco 1994, Venice
Until 4 July 2026
www.victoria-miro.com
GABRIELLE GOLIATH AT CHIESA DI SANT’ANTONIN
Gabrielle Goliath’s Elegy is the biennale exhibition that almost never was. Originally selected as South Africa’s official presentation, the project was controversially ‘decommissioned’ before the entire national pavilion was cancelled. The work is now presented independently, and with particular resonance, in one of Venice’s many beautiful churches.
An elegy is a lament, and here it manifests as films of eight vocal performances dedicated to those who have been lost to violence or injustice – often women and minorities. As mournful as the work is, it is equally elevating. A truly sublime collective experience, the absence of which would have been genuinely tragic.
Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, Salizada S. Antonin, Castello 3477, Venice
Until 31 July 2026. Following Venice, Elegy will be presented at Ibraaz in London (October 2026) and ICA Milano (January 2027)
www.elegyinvenice.com
FAIZA BUTT AT PAKISTAN PAVILLION
Lahore-born, London-based artist Faiza Butt represents Pakistan with Punj•AB: A Sublime Terrain—one of the most beautiful presentations of the biennale. The exhibition is inspired by a region that is both a deeply personal geography for the artist and a historically rich site, shaped by millennia of trade, migration and cultural exchange.
Butt has filled the exhibition space with monumental and magnificent tapestries that combine dhurrie weaving, ikat, jacquard, and hand-spun cotton, and map the rise and fall of civilisations through colour and composition. A film work shot in a factory introduces viewers to rituals, labour, and communal life of Punjab today, juxtaposing rural traditions with industrialisation, and creating a through line from the past into the future.
Ex Farmacia Solveni, Dorsoduro 993-994, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
@pakistan_pavilion_2026
JUDY CHICAGO AT GALLERIA ALBERTA PANE
Judy Chigaco is a living legend. At 87, the artist—probably best known for her iconic project The Dinner Party—is having one of the richest moments of her already extraordinary career, creating vital new work, which can be seen for the first time at Alberta Pane Gallery this summer.
The Materiality of Judy Chicago offers a sweeping survey of her six-decade practice, from 1960s minimalist sculptures and The Dinner Party’s iconic plates to eight new glass and bronze sculptures, created in collaboration with internationally-renowned Venetian glass specialists, Studio Berengo.
For many years, Chicago has been a museum-level artist. This is a rare opportunity for fans to see her work in the intimate setting of one of Venice’s best independent galleries.
Gallerie Alberta Pane, Dorsoduro 2403H, Calle dei Guardiani, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
www.albertapane.com
DAYANITA SINGH AT ARCHIVIO DI STATO
ARCHIVIO is Dayanita Singh’s tribute to the Italian archives she has photographed over the past decade, as well as her growing archive of images she’s taken of Italian architecture, interiors, artworks, friends, and more.
Singh is renowned not only for her photography, but also for challenging the concept of the exhibition, and the museum itself, as something static. She has reinvented both as living and evolving experiences, through an exquisitely-designed portable display system that can be used from architectural scale to that of furniture, or even a book. The system is used to perfection in Singh’s Venice presentation, which is part photographic exhibition, part sculptural installation, and wholly worth seeing.
Archivio di Stato, Campo dei Frari, San Polo 3002, Venice
Until 31 July 2026. After Venice, the exhibition travels to Rome, Turin and New Delhi.
www.dayanitasingh.in
LORNA SIMPSON AT PINAULT COLLECTION PUNTA DELLA DOGANA
Over almost 50 years, François Pinault, Founder of the luxury fashion group Kerring (Gucci, YSL, Balenciaga, Bottega Venetta) has built an extraordinary collection of over 10,000 works of contemporary art. In 2006, he created his first exhibition space at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, followed soon after by a second at Punta della Dogana. Along with a third space in Paris, they offer an opportunity to see pieces from the collection within a programme of world-class exhibitions.
One of four such shows running to coincide with the biennale, Third Person is the most significant presentation of American artist Lorna Simpson’s work in Europe for more than a decade. The exhibition brings together around 50 paintings, collages, sculptures, installations, and films, spanning more than 20 years, with the most striking being a series of monumental, majestic female figures.
Punta della Dogana, Dosoduro 2, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
www.pinaultcollection.com
MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ AT THE GALLERIE DELL’ACCADEMIA
Perhaps the most world’s most famous performance artists, Marina Abramović makes history by becoming the first living woman to be given a major solo exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia. Transforming Energy marks the artist’s 80th birthday and brings together iconic works from across her career with new pieces made for the show.
In recent years, Abramovic has become increasingly interested in Buddhism and spirituality, and one highlight of the exhibition is a room of her Transitory Objects—stone beds and structures embedded with crystals that visitors are invited to lie, sit or stand upon, activating what Abramović calls “energy transmission”. Another highlight —and one that could only happen in Venice—is the installation of Abramovic’s Pietà, a work made with former partner Ulay, placed in direct dialogue with Titian’s unfinished masterpiece of the same name.
Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia, Campo della Carità - Dorsoduro 1050, Venice
Until 19 October 2026
www.gallerieaccademia.it
PEGGY GUGGENHEIM & FRIENDS AT THE PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION
She’s no longer here in person, but Peggy Guggenheim’s spirit lives on in Venice as much as any artist’s. Guggenheim was born into a famously wealthy family, and was an avid collector of art. Before she settled in Venice, where her collection has its permanent home, she spent time in London, presenting work by avant-garde artists in her Cork Street gallery, Guggenheim Jeune.
Peggy Guggenheim in London: The Making of a Collector is the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to this period, when Guggenheim organised more than 20 shows over 18 months, including Kandinsky’s first UK solo. As well as a chance to see some of the world’s greatest artworks, this exhibition offers an insight into the influential personal and professional networks that helped Guggenheim shape her vision, and eventually made her one of the most revolutionary collectors and patrons in history.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Dorsoduro 701, Venice
Until 29 October 2026. After Venice, the exhibition travels to the Royal Academy of Arts, London (November 21, 2026–March 14, 2027) and the Guggenheim New York (April 16, 2027–September 12, 2027).
www.guggenheim-venice.it
MARÍA MAGDALENA CAMPOS-PONS AT THE CENTRAL PAVILION
Installed at the heart of the Central Pavillion, the venue for one of the two main curated exhibitions, María Magdalena Campos-Pons’ monumental Anatomy of the Magnolia Tree for Koyo Kouoh and Toni Morrison is one of the most affecting works of the Biennale. The painting is simultaneously a shrine, elegy and affirmation – rightly placing the late curator Koyo Kouoh at the centre of the Biennale she conceived.
Giardini della Biennale, Sestiere Castello, Venice
Until 22 November 2026
www.labiennale.org
KOYO KOUOH THROUGHOUT VENICE
Last but not least, the late, great Koyo Kouoh’s influence is tangible throughout Venice. Kouoh was the widely admired Cameroonian-Swiss Executive Director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town and the curator of this edition of the Venice Biennale. Tragically, she died almost exactly a year before the biennale opened. However, her vision has been realised posthumously by the team she put together before she passed.
Kouoh’s concept In Minor Keys calls for a shift away from spectacle, towards a more nuanced, quieter experience.
Her introduction to the theme began:
[Take a deep breath]
[Exhale]
[Drop your shoulders]
[Close your eyes]
And continued, “This is an invitation to…… shift to a slower gear and tune in to the frequencies of the minor keys. Because, though often lost in the anxious cacophony of the present chaos raging through the world, the music continues. The songs of those producing beauty in spite of tragedy, the tunes of the fugitives recovering from the ruins, the harmonies of those repairing wounds and worlds.”
It is a statement that has clearly influenced so many artists at the biennale and beyond, and one that I’ll be holding onto for a long time to come.
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