The International Jury of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is made up of Solange Oliveira Farkas (president), founder and artistic director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil; Zoe Butt, curator, writer and educator, founder of “in-tangible institute” and artistic director of “deCentral”, Thailand; Elvira Dyangani Ose, curator and artistic director of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial; Marta Kuzma, curator, contemporary art theorist and Professor at the Yale School of Art; Giovanna Zapperi, art historian, critic and Professor at the University of Geneva.
The appointment of the Jury has been deliberated by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia upon selection by Koyo Kouoh, the Curator of the 61st Exhibition titled In Minor Keys, that will be held in Venice (Giardini and Arsenale) from May 9 to November 22, 2026.
Solange Oliveira Farkas – President – is the founder and artistic director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil. She has led the Videobrasil Biennial as artistic director (1983–2024) and has served as director and chief curator of the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (Brazil, 2007–2010). Her curatorial career extends to major international events, including FUSO (Portugal), Dak’Art (Senegal), the Jakarta International Video Festival (Indonesia) and Sharjah Biennial (UAE).
Zoe Butt is a curator and writer engaged with critically thinking artistic communities, fostering dialogue among cultures in the globalizing souths. In 2022, she founded ‘in-tangible institute’, a curatorial platform nurturing locally responsive infrastructure for the arts across Southeast Asia. In 2025, she was appointed artistic director of “deCentral”, a forthcoming social enterprise for the arts, opening in Thailand in 2027.
Elvira Dyangani Ose is artistic director of the 2nd Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial 2026-2027. She was director of MACBA, Barcelona, from 2021 to 2026. Previously, she was director and chief curator at The Showroom in London. She has served as curator of the 8th Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, senior curator at Creative Time, and curator of International Art at Tate Modern.
Marta Kuzma is Professor of Art at the Yale School of Art, where she served as Dean (2016–2021), the first woman appointed to its institutional leadership within the school’s 150-year history. She was artistic director & chief curator of Faktura 10 (Ribbon International) throughout Ukraine (2025), a member of the curatorial team of Documenta 13, and co-curator of Manifesta 5 in San Sebastian; Chancellor of the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, director of the Office for Contemporary Art (OCA) Norway, and founding director of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv.
Giovanna Zapperi is Full Professor of Contemporary Art History at the University of Geneva. Her research focuses in particular on feminist epistemologies and practices in the visual arts, as well as on the relationship between gender, the body, and visual culture in modernity. As an art historian and critic, she has published numerous essays in international journals and exhibition catalogues. She is the author of L’artiste est une femme. La modernité de Marcel Duchamp (Paris, PUF, 2012). In addition, she has received several awards for her research.
The International Jury will award the following official prizes:
Golden Lion for best National Participation
Golden Lion for best participant in the International Exhibition In Minor Keys
Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition In Minor Keys
The Jury may also award:
a maximum of one special mention to National Participations
a maximum of two special mentions to the participants in the International Exhibition In Minor Keys
The Awards Ceremony will take place in Venice on Saturday, 9 May 2026.