Venice Art Biennale 2026: What Is Really Happening in Venice This Year

The Venice Biennale has just begun, and one of the first things you notice when walking through the Giardini or the Arsenale is the shift in atmosphere compared to recent years.

Many artworks no longer seek immediate impact. There are fewer giant screens, immersive installations, or spaces designed purely to become the perfect image for social media. The overall feeling is far more physical, slower, and almost more focused.

The title chosen for this 61st edition, In Minor Keys, perfectly reflects this approach. The exhibition, conceived by curator Koyo Kouoh, explores themes such as memory, listening, identity, spirituality, and cultural relationships without constantly turning them into spectacle.

Some of the most interesting projects require time

Walking through the pavilions, there is often the feeling that many works are not meant to be understood immediately.

There are installations built almost entirely around sound, works composed of archives, textiles, raw materials, intimate photography, or deliberately understated environments. Some spaces even feel disorienting because they do not offer an immediate or obvious interpretation.

And this is precisely what has sparked so much discussion among international critics during these first days of the Biennale. For many, this is one of the most sophisticated editions in recent years, with an entirely different rhythm of viewing. The impression is that the works demand more time, greater attention, and a much longer presence within each space.

Morocco’s debut is one of the most discussed topics

One of the pavilions attracting the greatest attention is Morocco’s, appearing for the first time with its own official national pavilion.

Artist Amina Agueznay has created a monumental installation made of natural fibres, woven wool, and handcrafted materials that occupies the space almost like a suspended architecture.

The project speaks about collective memory, tradition, and cultural transmission, but what makes it particularly compelling is the way it has been constructed: without special effects, without invasive technology, and without constantly searching for the iconic image.

And this direction appears repeatedly throughout many other pavilions as well.

The presence of Koyo Kouoh can be felt everywhere

This Biennale inevitably also carries the imprint of its curator.

Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman appointed artistic director of the Venice Art Biennale, passed away before the official opening of the exhibition. The curatorial team decided to preserve entirely the vision she had developed over the previous months.

The result is an exceptionally coherent Biennale.

Many artists work around concepts of belonging, territories, personal archives, marginal languages, and cultural identity. Yet the works rarely feel didactic. There is almost never the sense that someone is trying to impose a single, definitive answer.

Instead, the exhibition feels built around the idea of carefully observing what usually remains in the background.

Beyond the official Biennale, Venice remains the most beautiful part of the experience

As often happens, a significant part of the experience takes place outside the main pavilions.

Palaces that are normally closed to the public temporarily open for collateral exhibitions, private foundations host site-specific installations, and many historic hotels are collaborating with international artists and designers on projects running parallel to the Biennale.

And this is where Venice continues to distinguish itself from any other city.

During these months, there is no real separation between the event and the city itself: everything seems to merge into the same flow. Contemporary art, architecture, fashion, design, and hospitality constantly overlap.

And this is probably why the Biennale continues to be much more than a simple exhibition: for a few months, Venice becomes the place where you can truly understand the direction contemporary culture is taking.

Living in places that stand the test of time

Ultimately, events like the Biennale also remind us how central the relationship between culture, architecture, and territory is in shaping the way we experience spaces.

And this is precisely what makes places such as Venice, Verona, Lake Garda, or Cortina d’Ampezzo so unique: not simply destinations, but environments where art, history, landscape, and quality of life continue to intertwine every day.

Whether it is a home overlooking Venice’s canals, an apartment in Verona’s historic centre, a villa on Lake Garda, or a chalet in the Dolomites, the real estate value of these places also comes from their ability to offer authentic and timeless experiences.

For those searching for a property in some of Italy’s most fascinating destinations, real estate today is no longer only about investment, but above all about a way of life.