Venice Biennale Announces 2026 Theme ‘In Minor Keys’

Venice Biennale has announced the theme for its 2026 edition, ‘In Minor Keys’. Initially being curated by Cameroonian curator, Koyo Kouoh from mid-October 2024 to early May 2025 before her sudden demise, the biennale aims to “shift to a slower gear and tune into the frequencies of the minor keys, by rendering visible all that possible in the in-between spaces and beyond the portals.

Elucidating her ideas in a curatorial text, Kouoh wrote, “through a visual and meditative procession, the exhibition prompts all senses to interconnect and meander from one universe to another, rendering visible the possibilities that reside in the in-between spaces and beyond the portals.

The curator who noted she was inspired by the writings of American author and black freedom activist, James Baldwin, American poet, Toni Morrison, and author, Patrick Chamoiseau, described the biennale as “an invitation to encounter these words in the immediate physical, meteorological, ambient, and karmic conditions in which they meet you. To shift to a slower gear and tune-in to the frequencies of the minor keys”.

‘In Minor Keys’ will be attended to according to Kouoh’s specifications with the support of her family and contributions from colleagues, including an advisory team consisting of London-based historian Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Berlin-based curator, Marie Helene Pereira, film programmer, Rasha Salti, New York-based journalist Siddartha Mitter, and assistant Rory Tsapayi.

The ex-executive director and chief curator of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, Kouoh was appointed as curator of the Venice Biennale. She would have been the first woman to helm the art event since its 130 years of existence.

She had worked hard to develop the framework for the 2026 edition. The biennale organizers plan to release the list of artistes for the International Exhibition, the exhibition design, and the roster for participating countries in late February 2026, while the art show itself holds May to December, 2026.