Page 5 - The 61.Venice Biennial issue of WOA Contemporary Art magazine

very notion of curatorship, once the backbone of the Biennale’s The Biennale risks transforming from a cultural platform into a
authority, has been hollowed out. marketplace.

Compounding this crisis is the escalating cost of participation. Tens of thousands of artists worldwide still look to Venice as a
Each nation finances its own pavilion, with budgets ranging beacon of possibility, a place where artistic progress might
from several hundred thousand euros for smaller countries catalyze social, political, and cultural transformation. Their
to more than five million dollars for major powers. The United hopes collide with an institution increasingly unable to meet
States, for example, has allocated up to $5.8 million for its its own legacy. The disappointment is not merely aesthetic;
pavilion. European averages hover between one and two it is ethical.
million euros. Smaller nations report budgets around 200,000,
often funded entirely by ministries of culture. Countries The Biennale must reclaim its seriousness. It must
with permanent pavilions in the Giardini avoid rent but must rediscover professionalism. It must appoint curators who
cover maintenance; newer participants must rent palazzos understand art not as a social event but as a cultural
or temporary spaces in Venice, where six-month leases can necessity. It must stop confusing novelty with innovation,
exceed €200,000. In some cases, the upkeep of performative quantity with quality, spectacle with meaning.
installations costs thousands of dollars per hour.
Contemporary art deserves better. Artists deserve better.
Several nations have already withdrawn from the 2026 edition, The public deserves better. And Venice, if it wishes to
citing not only the prohibitive expenses but also the declining remain the world’s most important stage for contemporary
quality of the Biennale itself. When countries refuse to art, must change. The Biennale possesses a magnificent
participate not because they lack artists, but because they lack archive, a memory palace spanning more than a century.
confidence in the institution, the crisis becomes undeniable. The question now is whether it has the courage to build a
future worthy of that past. (The Editor)
PAVILION OF NEW ZEALAND. TAHARAKI SKYSIDE. PHOTO ANDREA AVEZZÙ.
61ST INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION – LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA, IN MINOR
KEYS. COURTESY LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA.

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