# 60th Venice Biennale

The 60th Venice Biennale is an international contemporary art exhibition held between April and November 2024. The Venice Biennale takes place every two years in Venice, Italy, with some limited exceptions. Artistic director Adriano Pedrosa curated its central exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, and 88 countries contributed national pavilions.

## Background

The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater. The 60th Biennale runs from April 20 to November 24, 2024.

## Central exhibition

Adriano Pedrosa, curator of the São Paulo Museum of Art, served as the 60th Venice Biennale's artistic director. The central exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, is based on outsider and marginalized figures. Pedrosa was the Biennale's first Latin American curator.

## National pavilions

Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in the Venice Arsenale and palazzos throughout the city. Each country selects artists to show at their pavilion, ostensibly with an eye to the Biennale's theme.
There were 88 national pavilions at the 2024 Biennale, down from the high of 90 in 2019. Countries began to announce their national representatives soon after the previous exhibition closed in 2022. First-time presenters at the Biennale included Benin, Ethiopia, Morocco, Senegal, and Tanzania. The Holy See had participated previously but 2024 marked the first papal Biennale visit. Scotland withdrew from this year's biennale. Russia had been disinvited from the previous Biennale for its invasion of Ukraine and, with the war ongoing, did not participate in 2024 either. Russia loaned its pavilion to Bolivia.
The Israeli pavilion declined to open. As the Biennale began, the pavilion's artist and curators announced that they would stay closed until there was a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war and all Hamas-abducted hostages were returned. During the Biennale's preview week, protesting artists demanded the boycott of the Israeli pavilion with leaflets and a flashmob. Two months earlier, Biennale organizers had rebuffed calls to exclude Israel and Iran, including an open letter with thousands of signatures.
Highlight pavilions from the exhibition included Japan, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Germany, Australia, the United States, Bulgaria, France, and Poland.
| Nation | Location | Artist(s) | Curator(s) |
| Albania | Arsenale | Iva Lulashi | Antonio Grulli |
| Argentina | Arsenale | Luciana Lamothe | Sofia Dourron |
| Armenia | Around Venice | Nina Khemchyan | Armen Yesayants |
| Australia | Giardini | Archie Moore | Ellie Buttrose |
| Austria | Giardini | Anna Jermolaewa | Gabriele Spindler |
| Azerbaijan | Around Venice | Vusala Agharaziyeva, Rashad Alakbarov, and Irina Eldarova | Luca Beatrice and Amina Melikova |
| Bangladesh | Around Venice | Abdur Rab, Mini Karim, Shahjahan Ahmed Bikash, Shahid Kabir, Claudia De Leonardis, Anna Carla De Leonardis, Roberto Saglietto, Nataliia Revoniuk, Patrizia Casagranda, DoJoong Jo, Jiyoon Oh, Franco Marrocco, Marco Nereo Rotelli, and Mirko Demattè | Viviana Vannucci |
| Belgium | Giardini | Denicolai & Provoost, Antoinette Jattiot, Nord, and Spec uloos | N/A |
| Benin | Around Venice | Chloé Quenum, Moufouli Bello, Ishola Akpo, and Romuald Hazoumè | Azu Nwagbogu |
| Bolivia | Giardini | Elvira Espejo Ayca, Oswaldo “Achu” De, León Kantule, Yanaki Herrera, Duhigó, Zahy Tentehar, Lorgio Vaca, Maria Alexandra Bravo Cladera, Rolando Vargas Ramos, Edwin Alejo, Cristina Quispe Huanca, Martina Mamani Robles, Prima Flores Torrez, Laura Tola Ventura, María Eugenia Cruz Sanchez, Faustina Flores Ferreyra, Pamela Onostre Reynolds, Guillermina Cueva Sita, Magdalena Cuasace, Claudia Opimi Vaca, Olga Rivero Díaz, Reina Morales Davalos, Silvia Montaño Ito, Ignacia Chuviru Surubi, Ronald Morán, and Humberto Velez | Ministry of Culture of the Plurinational State of Bolivia |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | Around Venice | Stjepan Skoko | Marin Ivanović |
| Brazil | Giardini | Glicéria Tupinambá con Comunità Tupinambá della Serra do Padeiro, Olivença a Bahia, Olinda Tupinambá, and Ziel Karapotó | Arissana Pataxó, Denilson Baniwa, and Gustavo Caboco Wapichana |
| Bulgaria | Around Venice | Krasimira Butseva, Julian Chehirian, and Lilia Topouzova | Vasil Vladimirov |
| Cameroon | Around Venice | Jean Michel Dissake, Hako Hankson, Kendji & Ollo Arts, Patrick-Joël Tatcheda Yonkeu, Guy Wouete, Angelo Accardi, Julia Bornefeld, Cesare Catania, Adélaïde Laurent-Bellue, Franco Mazzucchelli, Rex and Edna Volcan, Giorgio Tentolini, and Liu Youju | Paul Emmanuel Loga Mahop and Sandro Orlandi Stagl |
| Canada | Giardini | Kapwani Kiwanga | Gaëtane Verna |
| Chile | Around Venice | Valeria Montti Colque | Andrea Pacheco González |
| China | Arsenale | Che Jianquan, Jiao Xingtao, Shi Hui, Qiu Zhenzhong, Wang Shaoqiang, Wang Zhenghong, Zhu Jinshi, and The project team of “A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings” | Wang Xiaosong, Jiang Jun |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Around Venice | Aimé Mpane, Eddy Ekete, Steve Bandoma, Jean Katambayi Mukendi, Kongo Astronauts, Cedrick Sungo, and Eddy Kamuanga | Gabriele Giuseppe Salmi |
| Croatia | Around Venice | Vlatka Horvat | Antonia Majača |
| Cuba | Around Venice | Wilfredo Prieto García | Nelson Ramirez de Arellano |
| Cyprus | Around Venice | Forever Informed: Lower Levant Company (Peter Eramian, Emiddio Vasquez), Endrosia (Andreas Andronikou, Marina Ashioti, Niki Charalambous, Doris Mari Demetriadou, Irini Khenkin, Rafailia Tsiridou, Alexandros Xenophontos), and Haig Aivazian | N/A |
| Czech Republic | Giardini | Eva Koťátková in collaboration with Himali Singh Soin, David Tappeser, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures, and a group of children and elders | Hana Janečková |
| Denmark | Giardini | Inuuteq Storch | Louise Wolthers |
| Egypt | Giardini | Wael Shawky | N/A |
| Estonia | Around Venice | Edith Karlson | TBD |
| Ethiopia | Around Venice | Tesfaye Urgessa | Lemn Sissay OBE FRSL |
| Finland | Giardini | Pia Lindman, Vidha Saumya and Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen | Yvonne Billimore and Jussi Koitela |
| France | Giardini | Julien Creuzet | Céline Kopp and Cindy Sissokho |
| Georgia | Around Venice | Nikoloz Koplatadze, Grigol Nodia, Juliette George, Rodrigue de Ferluc, Iliazd, Max Ernst, and Ernst Wilhelm Tempel | Julia Marchand and David Koroshinadze |
| Germany | Giardini | Yael Bartana, Ersan Mondtag, Michael Akstaller, Nicole L'Huillier, Robert Lippok, and Jan St. Werner | Çağla Ilk |
| Great Britain | Giardini | John Akomfrah | Tarini Malik |
| Greece | Giardini | Thanasis Deligiannis, Yannis Michalopoulos, Elia Kalogianni, Yorgos Kyvernitis, Kostas Chaikalis and Fotis Sagonas | Panos Giannikopoulos |
| Grenada | Around Venice | Frederika Adam, BREAKFAST, Jason deCaires Taylor, Antonello Diodato Guardigli (ADGART), Alma Fakhre, Suelin Low Chew Tung, Gabriele Maquignaz, Lorenzo Marini, Benaiah Matheson, The Perceptive Group, and Nello Petrucci | Daniele Radini Tedeschi |
| Holy See | Around Venice | Maurizio Cattelan, Bintou Dembélé, Simone Fattal, Claire Fontaine, Sonia Gomes, Corita Kent, Marco Perego & Zoe Saldana, and Claire Tabouret | Chiara Paris and Bruno Racine |
| Hungary | Giardini | Márton Nemes | Róna Kopeczky |
| Iceland | Arsenale | Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir | Dan Byers |
| Iran | Around Venice | Abdolhamid Ghadirian, Gholamali Taheri, Kazem Chalipa, Morteza Asadi, and Mostafa Goudarzi | Amir Abdolhoseini and Shoaib Hosseini Moghaddam |
| Ireland | Arsenale | Eimear Walshe | Sara Greavu with Project Arts Centre |
| Israel | Giardini | Ruth Patir | Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit |
| Italy | Arsenale | Massimo Bartolini | Luca Cerizza |
| Ivory Coast | Around Venice | Jems Koko Bi, François Xavier Gbré, Sadikou Oukpedjo, Franck Abd-Bakar Fanny and Marie Claire Messouma Manlanbien | Simon Njami |
| Japan | Giardini | Yuko Mohri | Sook-Kyung Lee |
| Kazakhstan | Around Venice | Lena Pozdnyakova, Eldar Tagi, Kamil Mulashev, Saken Narynov, Yerbolat Tolepbay, Sergey Maslov, and Anvar Musrepov | Danagul Tolepbay and Anvar Musrepov |
| Korea | Giardini | Koo Jeong A | Jacob Fabricius and Lee Seol-hui |
| Kosovo | Around Venice | Doruntina Kastrati | Erëmirë Krasniqi |
| Latvia | Arsenale | Amanda Ziemele | Adam Budak |
| Lebanon | Arsenale | Mounira Al Solh | Nada Ghandour |
| Lithuania | Around Venice | Pakui Hardware | Valentinas Klimašauskas and João Laia |
| Luxembourg | Arsenale | Andrea Mancini & Every Island (Alessandro Cugola, Martina Genovesi, Caterina Malavolti, Juliane Seehawer) | Joel Valabrega |
| Malta | Arsenale | Matthew Attard | Elyse Tonna and Sara Dolfi Agostini |
| Mexico | Arsenale | Erick Meyenberg | Tania Ragasol |
| Mongolia | Around Venice | Ochirbold Ayurzana | Oyuntuya Oyunjargal |
| Montenegro | Around Venice | Darja Bajagić | Ana Simona Zelenović |
| The Netherlands | Giardini | Congolese Plantation Workers Art League and Renzo Martens | Hicham Khalidi |
| Nigeria | Around Venice | Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Ndidi Dike, Onyeka Igwe, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Abraham Oghobase, Precious Okoyomon, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, and Fatimah Tuggar | Aindrea Emelife |
| Nordic pavilion | Giardini | Lap-See Lam with Kholod Hawash and Tze Yeung Ho | Asrin Haidari |
| North Macedonia | Around Venice | Slavica Janešlieva | Ana Frangovska |
| Oman | Around Venice | Alia al Farsi, Ali al Jabri, Essa al Mufarji, Adham al Farsi, and Sarah al Olaqi | Alia Al Farsi |
| Panama | Around Venice | Brooke Alfaro, Isabel De Obaldía, Cisco Merel, and Giana De Dier | Ana Elizabeth Gonzalez and Monica Kupfer |
| Peru | Arsenale | Roberto Huarcaya | Alejandro León Cannock |
| The Philippines | Around Venice | Mark Salvatus | Carlos Quijon, Jr. |
| Poland | Giardini | Open Group (Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, and Anton Varga) | Marta Czyż |
| Portugal | Around Venice | Mónica de Miranda, Sónia Vaz Borges, and Vânia Gala | N/A |
| Romania | Giardini | Șerban Savu and Atelier Brenda (Nana Esi and Sophie Keij) | Ciprian Mureșan |
| San Marino | Around Venice | Eddie Martinez | Alison M. Gingeras |
| Saudi Arabia | Arsenale | Manal AlDowayan | Jessica Cerasi and Maya El Khalil |
| Senegal | Arsenale | Alioune Diagne | Massamba Mbaye |
| Serbia | Giardini | Aleksandar Denić | Ksenija Samadržija |
| Seychelles | Arsenale | Jude Ally, Ryan Chetty, Danielle Freakley, and Juliette Zelime (aka Jadez) | Martin Kennedy |
| Singapore | Arsenale | Robert Zhao Renhui | Haeju Kim |
| Slovakia | Giardini | Oto Hudec | Lýdia Pribišová |
| Slovenia | Around Venice | Nika Špan | Vladimir Vidmar |
| South Africa | Arsenale | MADEYOULOOK (Molemo Moiloa & Nare Mokgotho) | Portia Malatjie |
| Spain | Giardini | Sandra Gamarra | Agustín Pérez Rubio |
| Switzerland | Giardini | Guerreiro do Divino Amor | Andrea Bellini |
| Tanzania | Around Venice | Haji Chilonga, Naby, Happy Robert, and Lutengano Mwakisopile (Lute) | Enrico Bittoto |
| Timor Leste | Around Venice | Maria Madeira | Natalie King |
| Turkey | Arsenale | Gülsün Karamustafa | Esra Sarıgedik Öktem |
| Uganda | Around Venice | Artisan Weavers’ Collective, Sana Gateja, Taga Nuwagaba, Xenson Ssenkaba, Jose Hendo, and Odur Ronald | Elizabeth Acaye Kerunen |
| Ukraine | Arsenale | Katya Buchatska, Andrii Dostliev, Lia Dostlieva, Daniil Revkovskyi, Andrii Rachynskyi, and Oleksandr Burlaka | Viktoria Bavykina and Max Gorbatskyi |
| United Arab Emirates | Arsenale | Abdullah Al Saadi | Tarek Abou El Fetouh |
| United States | Giardini | Jeffrey Gibson | Abigail Winograd and Kathleen Ash-Milby |
| Uruguay | Giardini | Eduardo Cardozo | Elisa Valerio |
| Uzbekistan | Arsenale | Aziza Kadyri | Center for Contemporary Art Tashkent |
| Venezuela | Giardini | Juvenal Ravelo | Edgar Ernesto Gonzalez |
| Zimbabwe | Around Venice | Gillian Rosselli, Kombo Chapfika, Moffat Takadiwa, Sekai Machache, Troy Makaza, and Victor Nyakauru | Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa |

## Awards

An international jury presented the three main prizes following the Biennale's opening ceremonies:
* Golden Lion for best national participation: Australian pavilion (Archie Moore)
** Special mention: Kosovo pavilion (Doruntina Kastrati)
* Golden Lion for best artist of the central exhibition: Mataaho Collective
** Special mention: Samia Halaby and La Chola Poblet
* Silver Lion for the most promising young artist of the exhibition: Karimah Ashadu
The 60th Biennale's Golden Lion for lifetime achievement went to Anna Maria Maiolino and Nil Yalter.