Venice Biennale 2026 - Serbia and Egypt

It was hot in Venice, and there is always a lot to see. There are about 28 pavilions in the Giardini, each one offering a fully curated exhibition, plus the curated exhibition in the large central gallery building. After a while it’s hard to keep your patience and even to pay attention. In addition to what I think of as the main gardens, an additional space across a small bridge over a canal houses eight pavilions. Among them - Brazil, Austria, Greece, an eccentric Venice display, Poland, Romania – this is just about Serbia and Egypt. The Serbian pavilion featured an installation by artist Predrag Djakovic titled “Through Golgotha to Resurrection.” It is described, accurately, as “photographs, personal archives, maps, and administrative documents in a constellation of fragments that interrogates 20^th century memory.” Another source says the installation includes14,600 pieces of archival material and “interrogates European history, identity, and ideology.”  Many suitcases and all kinds of images covered the walls in an overwhelming mess that to my mind could have stood for many things.

 It was late in the day and I had read dozens of labels, most of them, like this one, talking pretentiously about the global meaning and philosophical significance of the artist’s work. I stormed out of the pavilion and did not look past the entrance. In fact, the video in this link is the fullest view of the installation I have seen, and it reminds me of the postcards in the Spanish pavilion, although with a very different organization. The images do conjure European history of the twentieth century, and the installation is compelling. 

Could it have been planned that in the next pavilion Egypt presented “Silence Pavilion: Between the Tangible and the Intangible?” The pavilions are always next to each other, but we have no idea if they collaborate, and in this case it’s unlikely. The Silence Pavilion label tells visitors to slow down, “attune themselves to the imperceptible.” Three dark rooms each displayed a single simple, beautifully finished sculpture, one of which we were encouraged to touch carefully. The artist is Armen Agop. In the midst of the furious activity and heat of the gardens was this island of calm and beauty, art that encourages peaceful contemplation. Beautiful and calming as it was, it did not inspire me to pay much attention to the remaining displays of art. It was time for an Aperol spritz.