Cover Li Yi-Fan will be representing Taiwan during the Venice Biennale (Image: courtesy of the artist)
Li Yi-Fan will be representing Taiwan during the Venice Biennale (Image: courtesy of the artist)
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The Venice Biennale returns this week, marking significant milestones for Asian participants, including debut pavilions for Vietnam and historic collaborations.
Widely considered the Olympics of the art world, the festival returns this year from May 9 to November 22. Its installations are historically some of the most visually striking and conceptually mind-bending—one might recall the Lithuanian pavilion’s Sun & Sea (Marina) in 2019, where an opera took place on an artificial beach, or Marina Abramović’s Balkan Baroque in 1997, where she washed 1,500 bloody cow bones to protest the Yugoslav Wars.
Founded in 1895 to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy, the Biennale established a prestigious international art exhibition in Venice. While it began as a national exhibition, it quickly adopted an international focus, featuring 14 countries in its first year. Beyond providing a platform for global dialogues, the event allows artists to address pressing social and political issues, from climate change to human rights.
Asian representation has evolved from marginal participation to a central presence. Japan participated for the first time in 1952, becoming the first Asian country to open its own pavilion four years later. Since then, more places have joined: South Korea established its permanent national pavilion in 1995, followed by China in 2005 and India in 2011.
The 2026 edition features even more milestones: Vietnam debuts its national pavilion, Japan and South Korea collaborate for the first time, and Qatar has unveiled an exhibition on the future site of the permanent structure. Here are five Asian pavilions and exhibitions you cannot miss this year.
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Vietnam
Above Installation view of LÊ HỮU HIẾU’s ‘Soul Energy’ at Venice Biennale in 2021 (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
Installation view of LÊ HỮU HIẾU’s ‘Soul Energy’ at Venice Biennale in 2021 (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
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Stationed at the newly restored Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon palace, Vietnam’s debut is titled Viet Nam: Art in the Global Flow. Curated by Đỗ Tường Linh, the exhibition examines the evolution of contemporary Vietnamese art within a global context through the works of ten artists. The presentation highlights traditional lacquering as a living language alongside mixed-media installations using silk, wood and gold leaf.
Hong Kong
Above Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui will represent Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale (Photo: courtesy of HKMoA)
Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui will represent Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale (Photo: courtesy of HKMoA)
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The city presents contemporary artist Angel Hui and media artist Kingsley Ng as part of the Collateral Events, both celebrating the beauty of quotidian life. Ng was inspired by the sight of Venetians hanging blankets outside their windows, a scene that evokes the housing estates of the city where residents traditionally used bamboo sticks for laundry. Hui, known for reimagining embroidery and Chinese ceramics, brings her signature goldfish plastic bag series to the festival.
Japan and South Korea
Above Ei Arakawa-Nash, who represents Japan at the Venice Biennale (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
Ei Arakawa-Nash, who represents Japan at the Venice Biennale (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
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The Korean and Japanese pavilions engage in a historic collaboration to explore their complicated ties in modern history. The Korean pavilion is constructed largely of glass, a fragile and sensitive material that reflects the region’s often fraught geopolitical condition. Featured artists include Choi Go-eun and Noh Hye-ri, alongside Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang. Kang presents an installation inspired by her latest work, We Do Not Part, which frames mourning as an ongoing act. Representing Japan, Los Angeles-based performance artist Ei Arakawa-Nash presents Grass, Moon and Babies, an interactive installation of 200 baby dolls. Visitors are invited to select a doll and perform an act of care, receiving a QR code linked to a birth date connected to historical events that have shaped Japanese and diasporic communities.
Taiwan
Above Li Yi-Fan will be representing Taiwan during the Venice Biennale (Image: courtesy of the artist)
Li Yi-Fan will be representing Taiwan during the Venice Biennale (Image: courtesy of the artist)
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Media artist Li Yi-fan showcases Screen Melancholy, a piece in the island’s Collateral Event that utilizes game engines for image creation. The work explores the layered relationship between individuals and images in a visual-first generation. His disconcerting “puppet” characters, set in a dark basement, ramble about technology, reflecting the anxiety stemming from digital transformation and the rapid development of generative AI.
Qatar
Above Qatar will have a new pavilion at the Venice Biennale (Photo: courtesy of the Qatar Pavilion)
Qatar will have a new pavilion at the Venice Biennale (Photo: courtesy of the Qatar Pavilion)
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Following a partnership between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice, Qatar has unveiled an exhibition on the future site of the permanent structure. Located in the Giardini, the 2026 pavilion is titled untitled 2026 (A Gathering of Remarkable People). The space features a tent-like structure by Rirkrit Tiravanija, an experimental film by Sophia Al-Maria and various performances. The future permanent site will be designed by Lina Ghotmeh.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
