Dana Awartani to represent Saudi Arabia at Venice Biennale 2026

10 November 2025

Dana Awartani will represent Saudi Arabia at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, taking place from May 9 – November 22, 2026.

Curator Antonia Carver, director of Art Jameel, and assistant curator Hafsa Alkhudairi will work with Dana for the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at the Biennale Arte 2026.

Dana Awartani said: “I am deeply honored to be representing Saudi Arabia and its diverse cultural voices and communities at the Biennale Arte 2026, and I thank the Visual Arts Commission and the Ministry of Culture for this cherished opportunity. My practice is rooted in foregrounding Middle Eastern cultural histories through the revival of craft practices and the preservation of the region’s globally-important material heritage; working with my curatorial colleagues, I am thrilled to have the chance to develop a major new work for the Saudi Pavilion, in line with this theme and endeavor, and to be part of ‘In Minor Keys’.”

The Saudi Pavilion is commissioned by the Visual Arts Commission, one of 11 sector-specific commissions under the Ministry of Culture.

Find out more via National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia.

Image: Photography by Anastasia Tikhonova, 2025. Image courtesy of the Ministry of Culture